Forces of Good
by Faith-rulz
Summary: Faith returns to Sunnydale to help out when Willow turns evil after Tara's death. Follows canon sortof through S7 with Faith playing a bigger role than in the show. Lots of FaithBuffy angst eventually I promise FB pairing...enjoy
1. Dark Times

**Forces of Good**

By Faith-rulz

Summary: What happens when you drop Faith into the mix while Evil Veiny Willow is intent on destroying the world?

Disclaimer: BTVS and ATS belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and Fox. Some scenes have been directly borrowed from Season six episodes, "Villains", "Two to Go", and "Grave".

Rating: M – Violence, language, adult themes

Dedication: To the reviewers of my last fic, and to CBscifiJUNKY for being a bad bad influence and planting the seed for this story in my head….grrrr aarrgghh ;-)

* * *

**Chapter 1: Dark Times**

**Int: Stockton Women's Penitentiary:**

Faith's eyes flashed with anger as she glared up at the figure looming above her; she was frustrated and annoyed that her meal was being disturbed, yet again.

"Look, why don't you just back the fuck off and leave me alone already." She said softly, not taking her eyes off the imposing figure leaning over her; chin thrust towards the Slayer, quietly challenging her.

Faith grimaced as she caught a whiff of the inmates breath, "Yo, ever heard of personal space, Deb?" she said, pushing her chair backwards and standing up in an effort to get out of range of the other women, "And while you're at it, some breath mints wouldn't hurt either."

To the casual observer, Faith looked like she wouldn't stand a chance against the larger women; and in this situation they would be right. Faith's path to redemption left no room for injuring humans, so she held back; barely defending herself against the multiple beatings she had already received in her time in prison.

She sighed inwardly, resigned to the fact that she was possibly, no, probably, going to sustain another beating, but she was so over caring. At least she felt something when the other inmates were kicking the shit out of her. Even if it was just pain…at least it was something; wasn't it?

She stood there, facing the heavy-set women, prepared to take whatever punishment she was about to receive, when she clutched at her chest, a searing pain gripped her; she stifled a cry of pain and then felt herself falling backwards…the last thing she remembered was her cell mate leaning over her, saying something, before darkness overwhelmed her.

**Int: Summer's back yard:**

"You think you can just do that to me? You think I'd let you get away with that?" Warren is yelling at Buffy and Xander, they're standing in Buffy's back yard. He laughs crazily, "Think again." He suddenly raises a gun and fires shots wildly at the pair; Buffy frantically shoves Xander out the way, in a valiant attempt to protect her friend.

Warren panics and runs off, firing wildly into the air over his shoulder, a bullet shattering the window of an upstairs bedroom in the house. Willow is standing there, smiling at Tara when all of a sudden she is sprayed with blood; it is bright red against her white blouse; unnatural. Willow stares in surprise at the large red spot on Tara's chest, right over her heart.

Tara frowns at Willow, "Your shirt." She manages to say, confusion in her expression, before she falls forward.

Will rushes forward, shocked, "Tara?" she calls urgently.

Down in the backyard Xander gets to his feet and brushes himself off, "Sweet fancy Moses! Where the hell did he…" He stops and looks to his left, seeing Buffy lying on the ground, staring upward, a bullet wound in almost the same place as Tara's. Xander is stunned, "Oh god!"

**Int: Prison Cafeteria:**

"What the hell happened here?" a prison guard yells as he shoves inmates out of his path and tries to make his way over to the source of all their interest. He stops short when he sees Faith, inmate 430019, lying on the ground unmoving.

"She just grabbed her chest and keeled over, sir." Faith's cell mate was kneeling beside the fallen Slayer, checking for a pulse.

The guard nods and gets on his radio, he calls for the prison medical team to get to the cafeteria; STAT.

**Int: Magic Shop:**

"Willow."

"Where do you keep the black arts books?" Willow doesn't look at Anya; she's casting her eyes around the shop concentrating on finding the books.

"Something terrible has happened, I know. But you don't have to do…"

"I need power." Willow cuts Anya off, looking at the books on the shelves of the upstairs loft.

Anya comes out from behind the counter, "Not with those books. I can't let you… Willow!"

Willow puts her hand up and purple bolts of light shoot over to the Vengeance Demon, rendering her immobile. She gestures with her head and all the books on the loft shelves begin to fly towards her and onto a heap on the table. Slowly she walks over to the table and, lifting her hands, places them on the open pages of one of the books. They disappear into the pages, becoming one with the book. The words begin to move off the pages, slowly making their way up Willow's arms and body. Satisfied, now that she has claimed the books' power, Willow lifts her head; her eyes and hair are black, the pages left blank, robbed of their magic.

Anya stares at Willow, horrified at the transformation; fear taking hold of her.

"That's better." Willow says, in a deep, resonant voice.

**Int: Prison infirmary:**

_Buffy! _Faith suddenly sits bolt upright, clutching at her chest. "Man, that's wicked painful." She groans, slowly lying back down, her eyes squinting against the glare of the fluorescent lights overhead.

The prison doctor, noticing the sudden movement quickly makes her way over to Faith's bed.

"How're you feeling?" she asks, smiling at Faith, removing her stethoscope from around her neck, beginning to examine the Slayer.

"What happened?" Faith asks, frowning, realizing she's in the infirmary, "I was just…" she pauses, not wanting to mention the near altercation with Deb, "…this searing pain went through my chest…next thing I wake up here" Faith stops, confusion still etched on her face, "I'm too young to have a heart attack…" she looks over at the doctor, worry etched all over her face "…aren't I?"

"As far as we know it wasn't a heart attack, your ECG is normal." The doctor responds, continuing to check Faith's vitals as she speaks. Faith is visibly squirming during the examination, itching to get out of the infirmary. "There doesn't appear to be anything wrong with you but…"

"So I can get out of here?" Faith cuts her off, making a move to get off the bed, before the doctor can recommend she stay overnight.

The doctor gives her charge an amused grin, "I was going to recommend that you stay overnight for observation." She knows Faith's history with hospitals, she's read her chart, "But, I guess you can go…" she says resignedly. Faith quickly swings her legs over the side of the bed, ready to bolt, "As long as you promise to come back in the morning for a check up." The doctor says sternly, her no-nonsense tone stopping Faith.

"Sure thing, Doc." Faith says, elated that she can leave, almost out the door already.

"Oh, Faith," the Slayer turns to face the doctor, knuckles white from gripping the door handle, heart sinking as she assumes the Doctor changed her mind, "The warden would like to speak to you, so head past his office first, he's expecting you."

Confused, but relieved, Faith slowly makes her way towards the warden's office. She's escorted by the guard who helped her in the cafeteria. He's chatting away to her but she's oblivious, fear welling in the pit of her stomach. She's knows there's something wrong, she can feel it; she knows it involves Buffy, but she can't face thinking about the possibilities that would prompt the warden to want to talk to her.

Finally they reach the office; her escort knocks once to alert the Warden, and then he opens the door and gestures to Faith to step inside. "Into the Lions' den..." Faith murmurs under her breath as she prepares for the worst and walks into the office.

**Int: Sunnydale Hospital:**

Willow is standing over Buffy, the monotonous tone from the ECG a scary reminder that her friend's heart has stopped beating.

"Will, what are you doing? She's going to die." Xander is panicked as he tries to reason with Willow.

"No she isn't." Willow is confident in this assertion as she continues to stare at the Slayer, concentrating deeply; suddenly, the bullet lifts out of Buffy's chest and floats into the air. Xander watches in amazement as the wound closes over and the ECG comes to life, the insistent beep keeping rhythm with the Slayer's now beating heart.

Willow looks at the bullet, a slightly amused expression on her face, "It's so, small." She comments, plucking the bullet out of the air. She closes her fist around it and brings it closer; when she reopens her fist the bullet is gone. She smiles down at Buffy who is slowly coming to; her eyes flutter open and she painfully lifts herself up.

"What happened?"

**Int: Prison Wardens Office:**

"Hello, Faith." The soft voice startles her; it's off to one side of the office. She spins around, recognizing the owner of the voice. She just stares stunned, fear gripping her heart; he looks so tired, so sad.

"Please sit down, Miss Lehane." The Warden breaks the silence.

**Int: Sunnydale Woods:**

"Oh, and when you get caught, you'll lose them too…your friends." Warren is panting, fear in his tone as he addresses the dark witch, "You don't want that. I know you're in pain, but…"

"Bored now." Willow gestures casually to Warren and his skin is ripped off his body in a single piece. Anya, Buffy and Xander arrive in time to see this turn of events.

"Oh my god." Xander looks like he's about to throw up.

"What did you do?" Buffy is horrified as she looks at Warren's skinless body sagging against the vines bound around his hands and feet.

Willow glances at her friends and then back to the body. It suddenly bursts into flame, leaving no trace. She turns to face them again, "One down." She says in a calm but psychotic voice as her body dissipates into smoke and she's gone.

**Int: Rental Car:**

"Are you alright, you look pale?" Giles asks; Faith hasn't said a word since they left the prison.

Faith looks at him, confusion, fear, pain; a myriad of emotions crossing her face, "5 by 5." She says mechanically as she turns and continues to stare at the road before them.

"Faith…"

"How would you feel, Giles." She snaps at him, "You just busted me out of prison…"

"It's all perfectly legal, Faith, I can assure you." Giles says, nervously wiping his glasses clean.

"Yeah, whatever…" Faith just looks at him, incredulous, "And then you tell me that Buffy got shot, and so did Red's girl…"she pauses, trying to remember the name.

"Tara." Giles fills in.

"Yeah, Tara…and she's dead." Faith stops, the realization hits her how close a call this was; it could so easily have been Buffy. "So what now?' she says softly to the watcher.

"There's a powerful coven in Devon who've warned me of a dark force rising in Sunnydale, that's all I know for the moment."

"Is this the dark force that shot B and Tara?" Faith asks.

"I'm not sure." He clears his throat nervously, "I'm meeting with them again, they'll fill me in, but I…I need you to get to Sunnydale; to help Buffy." Giles looks at Faith, her expression is one of disbelief, almost slight amusement, "I know this is a lot to ask, Faith, but they…they really need you right now."

Faith lets out a long breath and looks ahead at the dark road, "They all hate me, you do realize this?" _Guess turning psycho and trying to kill them all didn't earn me any brownie points! _Faith is staring out the side window, deep in thought. Giles glances at her, about to say something when Faith cuts him off, "I'll still go." She turns to face him, a small smile gracing her lips, "It's the least I can do." She says softly, more to herself as she turns to stare out the window again.

Giles pulls up at a fancy looking motel, "We're here." He says, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Where exactly is here?" Faith asks, taking in the appearance of the place, "I see the council is springing nice flash digs these days." She says, whistling softly to herself.

"My meeting is going to be held here, the coven representative will be arriving soon."

He leads her towards a black bike parked outside the motel, "This is your ride to Sunnydale." He hands her the keys.

"Sweet ride, G." Faith says, slowly walking around the Ducati admiring it, approval in her pleased expression. She quickly gets on the bike, "Always enjoy the feel of real power between my legs." She says taking the helmet Giles hands her. She smirks at his blush and then starts the bike. "I'll see you soon, G." she says, "Don't worry; I'll take good care of them." She answers the unspoken question in his eyes.

"Good luck, Faith." He says, watching her speed off into the darkness; towards the unknown, towards Sunnydale.

**Int: Magic Shop:**

"So…" Willow is smiling at Buffy, "Here we are."

"Are we really going to do this?" Buffy asks, hurt in her voice.

"Come on, this is a huge deal for me! Six years as a side man, and now, I get to be the slayer." Willow's voice is becoming more and more psychotic, it scares Buffy.

"A killer isn't a Slayer. Being a Slayer means something you can't conceive of." Buffy retorts, hurt and anger in her wavering voice.

Willow sighs and then shakes her head at the Slayer, "Oh, Buffy. You really need to have every square inch of your ass kicked."

"Then show me what you got. And I'll show you what a Slayer really is."

**Int: Streets of Sunnydale:**

Driving through the streets of Sunny"hell" once more, Faith realizes she doesn't have a clue where to begin looking for Buffy. She can feel her though, their slayer connection seems stronger; she can feel her distress and pain and so she follows the emotions she feels pouring off the other Slayer.

She looks up ahead and sees what looks like Xander and Dawn walking towards her, there is a sense of urgency in their strides. She takes in the appearance of their companions, 2 weird looking short guys; she doesn't recognize either of them. _Great, this should be interesting. _She pulls up next to them, trying to appear non-threatening; it doesn't work.

"Back off."

Faith puts her hands in the air, slowly, non-threateningly, when Xander pulls a sword on her. "Whoa, I'm not going to hurt you." Faith says, hands still in the air.

"Who are you?" Xander asks, still pointing the sword at her throat.

"I'm just going to remove my helmet." Faith says as she slowly reaches down to unclip it. She pulls it off and stares into Xander's shocked eyes. They immediately fill with recognition and then hate and he shoves the sword even closer; Faith can feel the tip biting into the skin of her neck, breaking it; she feels the warm trickle of blood that makes its way down her throat.

"What do you want?" he says, his voice laced with hatred.

Faith still has her hands in the air; she doesn't want to provoke him in any way. "I'm here to help." She says.

"Yeah, right, psycho!" Dawn chips in, taking a step back, when Faith turns to stare at her; she stands slightly behind Xander, fearful of the dark slayer.

A hurt look flashes briefly across Faith's face as she looks at Dawn. _Wow, she's grown up._ She turns her attention back to Xander, "Look, X, I know you have every reason to hate me…"

"Don't call me X." He interrupts her harshly, "We're not friends…" the venom in his tone stings Faith.

"Sorry." The apology catches Xander off guard but Faith continues speaking, "Look, I need to get to Buffy…"

"What, so you can hurt her, again!" Xander cuts her off again…

"No…" this is hard for Faith, facing up to what she did to the gang; to Buffy… "I can help her." Her voice is gentle, "I need to help her." She says mostly to herself, her tone imploring.

"She's the Slayer, she can handle it." Andrew chips in.

"Shut-up!" Dawn punches him in the arm.

"Ow!" He rubs his arm complaining.

Faith is mildly amused by this interaction between the two, but she keeps her eyes on Xander and the sharp end of the sword he still has at her throat. "I'm a slayer too, I can help her." she says softly, her eyes, her whole demeanor begging Xander to believe her.

"How did you hear about it?" Xander asks, his voice breaking, still not backing off with the sword.

Faith sighed, "We have a connection…" she stopped when she saw their confused, disbelieving expressions, "It's a slayer connection, like the slayer dreams." They look more confused now, "I felt it when she died…and when she came back." She sees Dawn staring at her in shock; fear. "I felt the gun shot." She says, straight to the point, slowly placing a hand on her chest, "I got the rest from Giles; he said there's a big bad and that it's wicked powerful; and evil…"

"Giles is here…?"Dawn's question hangs in the air as Xander cuts them both off.

"It's Willow."

Faith can see the grief etched in his face, the weariness, the sorrow. That stuns Faith into silence. She takes in the 4 people before her; their scared expressions, urgency in their body language; they're running away, she realizes. She looks at Xander, pleading with him to believe in her, "I'm here to help…Buffy will need my help." Her expression is somber, "She won't be able to fight Willow, they're too close…" she trails off.

As much as he hates it, Xander realizes she's right; he accepts that right now, there are bigger issues at hand than his hate for the dark Slayer. He withdraws the sword and takes a step back from Faith. She absently puts her hand to her throat; the cut stings. Xander looks at her, the pain in his eyes immense, "Please try…" he has to stop and choke back the tears that are threatening to overwhelm him, "Please don't hurt her." He pleads, his voice rough and croaky.

Faith nods, "You have my word."

Xander recomposes himself, "I need to get these guys to safety; Will is after them." He nods toward Andrew and Jonathan. "They're at the magic shop." He says, pointing behind him as they start to head off again.

"Xander…" Faith looks at him; he stops and turns to face her, "Keep safe."

He nods at her and then turns away and the four of them disappear into the night, running for their lives; for Willow's life!

**Int: Magic Shop:**

"Buffy ... I gotta tell ya ... I get it now. The Slayer thing really isn't about the violence." Willow and Buffy circle around each other, watching each other carefully, "It's about the power." Willow lifts her hand and a bolt of magic hits the Slayer throwing her back onto a desk. She slides across it and lands in a heap on the floor. Willow takes a few steps closer to Buffy; she looks pleased with herself, satisfied.

Buffy groans and doesn't get up, she's exhausted so she stays down with her forehead pressed against the floor.

"And there's no one in the world with the power to stop me now." Willow is still standing over Buffy, gloating.

Suddenly the door slams open, Faith is standing there, dressed in black, a grim expression on her face, hands clenched at her sides, "I'd like to test that theory…"

Buffy is struggling to sit up confusion, disbelief on her face, "Faith!"

"Hey, B." Faith says softly, acknowledging the blonde slayer, she can't tell if Buffy is relieved or scared or angry to see her. She turns and gives her undivided attention back to Willow.

Willow slowly turns her head and faces the dark Slayer; a psychotic grin spreads across her lips as she recognizes the person standing before her. "Well well, lookie here, Psycho Slayer…" she trails off, grinning wickedly at Faith.

"Red." Faith acknowledges Willow, looking her up and down, "I'm guessing that nickname doesn't stand now, what with the new gothic look." She gestures at Willow, slowly making her way towards the witch, taking in her surroundings as she does. "So, you're hurting your friends now, Will?" Faith gestures to Anya and Buffy, "I thought that was my gig?" she looks at Willow questioningly, her head tilted; characteristic smirk on her face.

"Down." Willow gestures to Buffy, who is struggling to her feet, and the slayer crumples to the ground again. "Don't…" she looks warningly at Faith who starts towards her, "What do you want, Faith?"

"Well, for starters, for you to stop doing whatever the hell it is you think you're doing…" Faith responds, staring at Willow, challenging her. Willow laughs; it's psychotic and chills Faith. _What the hell has happened to you, Red?_

She's surprised when Willow sneers at her, "What, you don't like the dark look." She says menacingly, gesturing to herself, "I thought dark is what turned you on, F."

"You read my mind!" Faith asks, surprised. It's more a statement.

"Willow, you need to stop." Buffy has managed to get to her feet; she's leaning on the book shelf for support.

Willow turns to her friend, angry that she allowed the dialogue with Faith to distract her enough so she didn't notice Buffy get up. She starts to send a spell towards the blonde but is brutally tackled from the side as Faith charges her and they both crash to the floor. Faith tries to pin her down put finds herself flying through the air, through the training room doorway and into a wall. She slumps to the floor, stunned, and winded.

"Buffy already tried that move, you moron." Willow says, as she strides into the training room, "And it's beginning to wear on my patience." She turns and spots the knives and other throwing weapons on the wall. "You've been a bad Slayer, Faithy" Willow says, shaking her finger at the fallen Slayer.

"Willow, don't…" Buffy cries out to the witch, watching helplessly as the weapons float off the wall and then head straight for the struggling dark Slayer.

_Fuck! _Faith curses inwardly as she dives forward into a roll, trying to get out of the path of the deadly projectiles. She's not fast enough and a knife embeds itself deep into her thigh as she finishes the roll. She stifles a cry of pain as she staggers and tries to regain her footing. She grits her teeth and grabs the knife, yanking it out of her leg; the steady flow of blood leaving a dark stain on her jeans.

She turns her gaze to the Witch, "Thanks." She smirks, glaring at Willow, "I needed that." She tosses the knife away so she won't be tempted to use it later.

Fury fills Willow as she starts towards the defiant slayer, but she's brutally stopped as Buffy hits her with a heavy piece of wood. Willow slams into one of the loft support pillars and falls to the floor in a shower of bricks and debris.

Faith spares a small, painful smile of thanks for the blonde and then takes a moment to absorb her surroundings; the loft is now unstable above them all and the magic shop is in complete disarray…it looks as if a hurricane went through it. _Must have been some fight! Go B! _She begins to think when her attention is diverted back to Willow who is brushing dust off her jacket as she magically floats to her feet.

"That was rude." Willow says, staring at Buffy.

"Please, Will, we don't want to hurt you." Buffy pleads, walking towards the Wicca. The pain in the blonde Slayer's voice is almost too much for Faith to bare. She slowly limps across the training area, towards the pair, wincing as the stab wound in her leg tears with the movement.

Willow waves her hand in front of her face and the bloody gash on her cheek disappears, "You can't hurt me, Slayer, nothing can hurt me now."

"Will, think about what Tara would…"

"Don't you say her name!" Willow screams and aims a bolt of magic at Buffy. Faith moves with inhuman speed, all pain forgotten, and rushes forward pushing Buffy out from under the loft. She is not so lucky and the whole thing crashes down on top of her. _You have got to be fucking kidding me…_are Faith's last thoughts, as she raises her arms to protect herself from the falling debris.

"Faith!" Buffy's concern for her sister Slayer is cut short as Willow speaks to her, "You Slayers, always saving people. It's kinda pesky." She picks up a fireball from the burning debris next to her.

"You probably even think you're buying escape time for Jonathan and the other one. Well, I got a little secret for ya." Willow looks at Buffy, "I can kill them from anywhere I want." She looks lovingly at the ball of flame, "With this." She waves her other hand over the ball and it begins to grow. "It'll find them. It'll bury them." She smiles wickedly at Faith who is slowly coming around, "Along with anyone helping those Dead Men Walking."

Buffy gets painfully to her feet and stares at the ball of flame, fear gripping her heart.

"Don't."

Willow mocks the blonde, "Unless ... somebody, somehow ... can get there in time to save them." She pauses and stares at Buffy, challenging her, "Huh. Oh, well." She throws the ball up into the air and watches it burst through the ceiling. "Fly, my pretty, fly." It disappears through the hole and into the night sky. Willow looks to Buffy, smiling, "See what I did there?"

Buffy looks down at the injured dark Slayer, she hesitates; she doesn't know what to do.

"Go, I'll be fine." Faith says to the blonde; stoically gritting her teeth, refusing to show any signs of pain.

Buffy nods, regret, but also relief fills her as she runs with urgency past Willow and out the door.

"Good luck." Willow calls after her in a psychotic voice. She turns her attention back to Faith. "I thought she'd never leave; now, where were we?" she says as she moves towards the dark slayer.

Faith winces as she pushes some of the debris trapping her to the side. Her body is wracked with pain but she forces herself to stand, grasping deep within herself. _I can't believe I got out of prison for this shit! _She berates herself, turning to face Willow.

"I'll give you this much." Willow says to the slayer, "You're persistent."

"Yeah, well, I don't really have too much to loose now, do I?" Faith replies, pain evident in her voice, as she spits blood onto the floor, the metallic taste lingers in her mouth.

Willow pauses, but only for a second, as she takes in that statement, "You're a hypocrite you know!" she challenges Faith, "Waltzing in here to try and stop me, when this is the exact same path you chose not that long ago."

"Yeah, well, that's not me anymore." Faith retorts; Willow clearly hit a nerve.

She magically grabs Faith and slams her into the ceiling, holding her there for a second, enjoying the pain etched on the Slayers face, before she lets her fall to the ground.

She stands above her; an evil laugh escapes her lips as she enjoys her torture of the dark Slayer. Faith coughs as she draws a ragged breathe, her lungs burning from the effort. "You're looking a little tired there, Faithy." She sneers.

Faith glares up at Willow and then without warning kicks out at her legs, causing the witch to fall to the ground. She's upon Willow and slams her fist into the Wicca's face, dazing her. "I'm just warming up, Red." Faith returns, slamming her fist into the witch's jaw again. She's about to deliver a 3rd blow when she stops herself; this is Willow she's laying in to. She remembers her promise to Xander, and the unspoken promise to Buffy; that she wouldn't harm their friend. A shudder runs through her as the realization of what she was about to do dawns on her, she leans back, her fist paused in the air. The pause is all Willow needs and Faith finds herself flung across the room again. "This is getting old." She groans as she struggles to sit up, battling against broken ribs, and countless other injuries.

Willow is crouching before her; her expression is almost one of pity as she studies the Slayer, "I admire your courage, Faith." She says, condescendingly, "It's a valiant effort, I give you that, but you can't win…" she trails off as she takes in the Slayer's expression. Faith is glaring at her defiantly, her characteristic smirk challenging the witch; almost daring her to do her worst. Anger grips Willow as she restrains the Slayer with a magic grasp; it is constrictive, smothering Faith. The Slayer starts to panic slightly, the claustrophobic spell not helping her already laboured breathing. Willow jabs a finger into the stab wound on Faith's thigh. She swallows back a cry of pain, nausea overtaking her. Willow laughs and removes her finger from the wound, "That was for holding a knife to my throat."

Faith is gasping now as Willow releases her hold on her, she steps away and watches the fallen Slayer struggle to catch her breathe. "You don't…want…to do this…Willow." Faith manages between coughs and gasps.

"And how would you know what I want, you filth." She rakes her hand through the air and 3 cuts appear on Faith's cheek, "That was for trying to kill Xander." She continues.

Faith struggles to her feet, blood streaming down her face from the cuts.

"Willow…" she's cut off as a blast of magic hits her, sending her to her knees.

"I saved the best for last, Faith." She spat the Slayer's name out, "Oh, you're going to love this, the big finish."

"Do your worst." Faith spits out to the witch, her voice raspy, but still full of strength, still defiant.

Willow raises her hands and laughs wickedly as she sees Faith cower before her, "This is for hurting Buffy…"

Faith steeles herself, and prepares for what she's certain will be the final blow, the one that will end her life. She feels regret that she never got to apologize to Buffy; to make things right with the Scooby's; with Giles. She bravely kneels before Willow waiting for the death blow; ever defiant she continues to stare at Willow, not backing down, not prepared to give the witch the satisfaction, not showing an ounce of the fear that grips her heart…

Suddenly a blast of green magic energy hits Willow from the side. It sends her flying across the room; she lands on the floor and slides a few feet. She skids to a stop and lifts her head, nose bleeding, surprise all over her face. She looks up in the direction the magic came from and sees a very grim looking figure standing in the doorway, he's wearing a long black coat and he looks furious.

"Giles!" Faith's voice breaks, relief fills her being at seeing the watcher standing there.

"Giles?" there's confusion and relief in Anya's voice; she's slowly coming to after being knocked unconscious by Willow.

Willow smirks, "Uh oh, Daddy's home. I'm in wicked trouble now." her tone is sarcastic. She sits up and wipes her bloody nose, all the while grinning psychotically at Giles.

Giles stares her down, "You have no idea." He takes a step forward, "You have to stop what you're doing." He continues his tone deadly serious.

They continue their dialogue, Willow taunting the watcher, while Faith struggles to her feet. She manages to reach Giles' side before her legs give in again and she lands on her knees. She winces from the jarring pain, looking up at the dark witch, taking in Willow's presence.

"You concern me, Willow. Stay on this path and you'll wind up dead." Giles is still trying to reason with the witch. Cold dread fills Faith's being as she sees Willow's expression as she takes a step towards the pair.

"Remember that little spat we had before you left? When you were under the delusion that you were still relevant here?" she is closing in on them, Faith can feel the power radiating from the Wicca.

"You called me a rank, arrogant amateur. Well buckle up, Rupert..."

Faith, Anya and Giles watch Willow uneasily, unsure of what she might do. Suddenly her body is illuminated by a magic force and her eyes turn black. She smirks at the trio and says in an otherworldly, deep resonant voice,

"Cause I've turned pro…"

Quicker than she's ever seen Giles move, Faith watches as he gestures towards Willow,

"Vincire!" escapes his lips as green magic shoots from his fingers and binds Willow around her torso. She struggles but Giles is steadfast and he continues to restrain her in the quickly strengthening spell.

Faith watches as Willow's body floats in the air about a foot off the ground, she appears unconscious and restrained; for the time being. She lets out a long, rattling breathe, unaware until just then that she had been holding it in.

"What did you do?" Anya looks incredulous, relief obvious in her voice.

"Contained her and her powers within a binding field…it puts her in a kind of…stasis for the time being." He turns to face Anya and then Faith, he smiles slightly before concern for the condition of the dark Slayer takes over. He hurries over to her and crouches beside her, "Are you ok?" he asks, concern in his voice.

"5 by…" Faith notices the raised eyebrow he gives her, she sighs, "Actually, this is so freakin' far from 5 by 5 it's not funny anymore." Her voice wavers.

Giles chuckles at her comment and stands, holding out a hand to help her to her feet. He guides her to a chair and then turns to Anya. He's suddenly enveloped in a bone crushing hug, the vengeance demon showing her immense relief at his presence. Giles breaks free from the affection and walks over to Willow, "I'm very sorry about Tara." He says sadly.

"This…won't hold me…forever." Willow struggles, glaring at the watcher.

Giles nods sadly and walks back to Faith to get a rundown on what's been happening.

"So I'm guessing the coven told you who it was." Faith manages to cough out, wiping the blood away from her mouth.

"A dark force fueled by grief." Giles replies sadly, concern for the slayer etched on his features.

"Willow." Faith says softly, glancing at the restrained witch.

Giles follows Faith's gaze and looks sadly at Willow, "I'd so hoped it wasn't her." He pauses, obviously upset about the whole disaster, "The coven ... imbued me with their powers."

"And sent you here to bring Willow down?" Faith is still warily watching the witch, she frowns, forcing the pain back, trying not to let it overwhelm her.

"Are you alright, Faith?" Giles says, not wanting to face that fact right away

"I…" she begins, but she is suddenly flying through the air, yet again, and making bone crushing contact with yet another wall. _You know what insanity is? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results._ The prison shrinks' words of wisdom go through Faith's mind as she collides, yet again, with the wall. Her vision blurry, the last thing she sees before unconsciousness finally overwhelms her, is Willow placing a hand on Giles' chest, and then it all goes black.

"I need a little pick me up." Willow says, just as a bright orange glow emanates from Giles' chest. Suddenly she lets him go and staggers back, letting him drop to the floor, barely conscious. "It's incredible." She gasps, enjoying the power, "I mean, I am so juiced ... Giles, it's like ... no ... mortal person has ... ever had ... this much power. Ever. It's like I, I'm connected to everything ... I can feel ... it feels like ... I ... I can feel..."

Willow's smile fades and her expression becomes pained, "everyone. Oh. Oh my God. All the emotion. All the pain. No, it, it's too much. It's just too much." Willow suddenly gets up, ignoring Giles' weak protests, "I can stop this; I can make it all go away." She heads for the door, "Oh, you poor bastards, your suffering has to end." She disappears in a swirl of magic, leaving the ruins of the magic shop behind her.

**Int: Sunnydale cemetery:**

"Move!"

Buffy is sprinting through the cemetery, desperately trying to reach Dawn and Xander, determined to save the four from certain death. She leaps forward and grabs both Jonathan and Andrew, pulling them down, just as the fireball hits the ground between them and all five are thrown to the ground. Xander is thrown into a grave stone, he slumps to the ground unconscious. Dawn tries to stand and get to her sister, but the ground starts shaking, throwing her off balance.

"Dawn! Dawn, hold on." Buffy gets up and tries to reach her sister but suddenly a huge hole opens up in the ground, right underneath Dawn. She screams as she falls into the hole. Buffy tries to grab her but she also falls into the pit. They land on a dirt floor some thirty feet below and find themselves trapped in a large cavern. Dirt from the hole above rains down on them as they wearily look around.

Buffy glances up just in time and sees one of the Geeks' swords falling towards her. She manages to roll out of the way just as the sword lands with its point in the ground, right where she was lying a second earlier. The second sword falls near to the first as Buffy stands up, brushing her jacket off. She grabs one of the swords but then stops; a sad expression crossing her face as she closes her eyes, frowning as she concentrates.

**Int: Magic Shop:**

"Faith..." The voice seems distant, but urgent. Faith doesn't want to follow the voice, she's comfortable, not feeling any pain anymore. There's only pain in the place the voice is coming from; sorrow, grief, hate, pain…she's tired of it all, she just wants it to end, she doesn't want to feel empty; lonely, anymore. But deep down, something urges her to get up; it fills her with hope... "You need to wake up now."

_Buffy?_

**Int: Hole in the Ground:**

"Buffy!" Dawn is concerned, her sister is just calmly standing there, sword gripped tight in her hand; eyes squeezed shut, concentrating deeply on what? She doesn't know.

"Buffy!" her shout is louder, whinier as she endeavours to draw her sisters attention.

Slowly Buffy turns to face her sister and smiles, "There…" a tear falls down her cheek.

"What?" Dawn is confused, and a little spooked at her sister's strange behaviour, "Buffy, you're scaring me." The teenager says, taking a step back from her.

Buffy smiles at her, "It's going to be ok, Dawnie. I was just trying to convince Faith to come back." Her smile falters, and she notices Dawn's confused expression. "She was slipping away." Buffy says softly, "I could ,n't feel her anymore."

**Int: Kingmans Bluff:**

Faith watches in horror as Willow feeds the temple magic power, it's slowly sucking the life out of the earth; the ground is turning black and it's spreading. She drops the bike and limps towards the Wicca; she's oblivious to Faith's presence, concentrating on destroying the World now. She does pause and look to her right; for a moment Faith thinks Willow has sensed her, but as she gets closer she hears the dialogue.

"You're a warrior. You won't go out without a fight. I don't really have time for one. But you should go out fighting." Her voice is tired, full of respect, but tired; she continues, "It was me that took you out of the Earth. Well, now..."

And at that moment fear grips Faith as she realizes who Willow is talking to…

"…the Earth wants you back."

"No…" Faith is running, as much as her injuries allow, trying to reach Willow. She steps into the path of magic Willow is aiming at the temple.

Willow looks surprised, shocked even that the dark Slayer is still trying to stop her. "Shouldn't you be dead?" she spits out, such venom and hate in her voice.

"See, that's the thing with us, "pesky slayers"…" Faith says, "We just don't stay dead."

She suddenly leaps at Willow, her heel connecting with the Wicca's chest, sending her crumpling to the ground.

Willow gets up to face her, her expression dark as she turns to the slayer, "I'm still going to beat you, you know, I gave Buffy a good beating a little earlier…"

"Too much talking…" Faith storms up to Willow and kicks her in the abdomen and follows it with a round house punch to the head. Willow staggers back a few steps, the blows dazing her. She wipes the blood dripping from her nose with her sleeve and then looks up at Faith with a smirk on her face. "You don't have to do this you know…" Faith says to her, blocking the kick Willow attacks her with, but receiving the full brunt of the uppercut to the jaw. Faith shakes her head, her vision blurry from the blow.

"Do what?" Willow asks innocently, a backhand punch sending the already dazed slayer to the floor.

Faith pauses for a brief while, she's exhausted, she's frustrated that she can't defeat Willow; mostly she's angry, angry that one of the real good guys is heading down the dark road.

Willow storms up to Faith; the Slayer is struggling to her hands and knees, trying to get up. She brutally kicks her in the stomach, sending her rolling away a few feet.

"You don't have to follow this path." Faith manages to cough out, tears stinging her eyes, the pain in her ribs immense. She lies on her back, struggling to get her breath.

"I thought you didn't want to talk, Faithy!" Willow is standing over the prone Slayer; she puts her foot on Faith's side, maliciously applying pressure to the fractured ribs. Faith's silent, defiant stubbornness reaches its limit when Willow kicks the injury causing her to cry out in agony. "See what I did?" Willow says softly, psychotically; bending low enough so that she's almost level with Faith, "I made the Slayer scream." She says darkly, making sure Buffy can hear her.

**Int: Hole in the ground:**

Buffy lowers her sword for a second, the hatred in Willow's voice stuns her.

"Please, Will…" she swallows back her emotions; grief for Willow and fear for the dark Slayer's life.

"Buffy…"

She snaps out of her daze at the desperation in Dawn's cry and resumes her battle with the underground demons.

**Int: Kingmans Bluff:**

Satisfied, Willow turns her attention back to Faith, "Bet you're not feeling so 5 by 5 now, are you, F!" she says, venom in her voice.

Faith somehow finds the strength to stand up again before her dark nemesis, sweat mingled with blood and dirt drips down her face and arms as she faces Willow. She nearly falls but she manages to will herself to remain upright.

Now Willow falters a little, the expression on Faith's face unreadable, her respect for the Slayer grows. She finds it hard to believe that, after brutally receiving so much punishment at her hands, Faith is still able to stand before her and challenge her.

"Don't go down this path, Will." Faith says sadly to the witch, "It'll only lead to pain and despair!" She's holding on to her ribs, each breath excruciating, desperately concentrating on not falling over.

"Don't…" Willow punches Faith in the face; she retaliates with an elbow to Willow's face and an uppercut to her jaw. The witch staggers backwards, cupping her cheek; it's split, blood pouring from the wound. "It won't work; talking me down." Willow smirks at Faith, "You're evil too you know, you've killed humans...you're a murderer" Willow sees she's getting a reaction from the Slayer, "…and you liked it…"

This time it's Faith who strikes Willow first, kicking her in the abdomen, sending her flying into a tree. "I get that you're in pain, Willow, but take it from the one person who knows where this is going to lead; stop, it won't bring her back!" she strides towards the Witch, determination and hope fills her, all pain forgotten. Willow tries to get up but Faith kicks her down again, "I understand, Will…" Faith pauses, seeing a flash of humanity in Willow's eyes, "Let me help you."

"You could never understand what it feels like to lose the one you love more than anyone in the world." Willow shouts back, her grief stricken voice is wavering, not so sure of herself anymore. She tries to send a bolt of magic towards the Slayer, but nothing happens. She glares at her hands, confused, and tries again; still nothing.

Willow's comment stings Faith, but she perseveres, "This path of destruction is not the answer…that part I do understand." She says softly. M_ore than you know._

Willow looks at Faith, confused, tears starting to well in her eyes, and then she sees it, feels it; the grief, regret, pain the Slayer is feeling over her betrayal of all of them, especially Buffy. She feels the love that Faith has for Buffy, and the loss; knowing that her betrayal sealed her fate, knowing that she will never ever get a chance to be with the person she loves.

Faith is standing above Willow, her boot on the Wicca's chest, preventing her from getting up, her heart unknowingly open, all her emotions pouring into the witch; anger, hate, guilt, sorrow, love, fear…

A tear escapes Willow's eye, "Stop it!" she yells, punching Faith in the knee, causing the Slayer's leg to buckle as it gives way under her. Faith is sitting beside Willow now, cautious of the powerful Wicca, but too close to loosing consciousness to care much about what the witch deals her next. "It's not fair." Willow's voice is strained and filled with emotion.

"I know." Faith responds, looking into Willow's eyes, relief flooding her when she sees they're green again; the dark hair slowly turns red; Willow's grief finally surfaces.

Faith sees Buffy, Dawn and Xander standing a few feet away, relief on their faces as Willow finally stops her rampage and breaks down. She can feel the waves of grief pouring off the witch; she edges away slightly as Xander steps forward and kneels before the two women. He cautiously takes Willow into his arms and holds her as her body is wracked with sobs.

Faith looks up to see Buffy watching her, tears streaming down the blonde's cheeks, concern etched upon her face, unsure of what to do. Faith gives Buffy her characteristic smirk, and nods to the other slayer, acknowledging her. She can't talk, her body is broken, severely, and all she wants to do now is lie down and rest. She spares one last glance for Xander and Willow before things start to move slowly and she finally succumbs and slumps to the ground, unconscious…into blissful oblivion…

"Oh my god, Faith!" Buffy panics and rushes to the fallen Slayer. She feels for a pulse, silently praying that the Slayer isn't dead. Relief fills her as she feels one; it's weak, thready, but still there.

"Buffy." She whips around to face the person who called to her; disbelief, confusion and then relief and joy cross her face as she jumps up to engulf her watcher in a bone crushing hug.

"Need…to…breathe," he says eventually, trying to break out of her strong grasp.

"Oops, sorry," she loosens her grip, embarrassed, but not letting him go. "Giles…" she sobs into his shoulder, her body shaking, "I can't lose her again…"

"It's going to be ok." He says, gently stroking her head, "But right now, we need to get Faith and Willow to a hospital." He says, glancing over at Xander who still cradles Willow in his arms, she's still sobbing.

Giles steps towards Faith and then crouches beside her, scooping her up into his arms. He turns and heads for his car, Buffy walking next to him. Xander pulls Willow to her feet and, still supporting her, guides her to Anya's car, Dawn and Anya follow cautiously.

"She really came through." Buffy says to Giles, helping him gently place Faith in the backseat. She sits next to the dark slayer, supporting her limp body against her own, gently wiping a stray piece of blood soaked hair from her beaten face. Buffy looks up to Giles, imploring, "She has to be ok." She turns her attention back to Faith, watching the slow rise and fall of her chest.

"She will be." Giles says, smiling at his Slayer, "Now that she has a reason to live…" He turns to watch Anya, Dawn and Xander help Willow into the other car, "They both will be." He replies smiling down at his Slayers.


	2. Slayer Healing Broken?

**AN: Thanks for all the reviews guys, you rock ;-) I guess RockerWolfPup is mostly responsible for me deciding to carry on with this story so this chapter is for you, dude!**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 2: Slayer Healing Broken?**

**Int: Sunnydale General Hospital ICU**

"Buffy...BUFFY!" Dawn stood beside her sister, trying to wake her from her sleep. She became a bit more insistent when the blonde didn't respond, shaking her a little harder until finally Buffy opened her eyes. Dawn felt bad for waking her, she looked so exhausted, but it had to be done.

"Wha…who…" her gaze followed the hand on her shoulder until she was staring into her sisters eyes, "Hey, Dawnie." Buffy smiled, stifling a yawn with her hand.

Dawn tilted her head in the direction of the bed next to which Buffy sat, keeping her desperate vigil, "How is she?" the younger Summer's asked, concern etched in her expression. Buffy followed her gaze to the beaten, broken figure lying in the bed, countless tubes and wires attached to various parts of her damaged body.

Buffy let out a frustrated sigh, "No change." She said softly, her wavering voice betraying her emotions.

_**Flashback:**_

"_Giles, she stopped breathing!" the panic was evident in Buffy's voice as she held her fingers to Faith's neck, feeling for a pulse._

"_We're nearly there." Giles responded, grim determination in his voice as he floored it, heading for Sunnydale General Hospital._

_Relief filled Buffy when she felt Faith's pulse, it was weak and thready, but it was there._

"_She has a pulse." She said, placing Faith's head in her lap so she could try and give her mouth-to-mouth. She blew twice, watching Faith's chest rise and fall with each breath._

"_Please god, don't leave me now." She said, listening to see if Faith was breathing yet. Nothing! Buffy breathed again for the dark Slayer, desperation in the act. "Come on Faith." She pleaded, tears streaming down her face._

_She was about to breathe for Faith again when the Slayer suddenly started coughing and gasping in breathes of precious air._

"_Oh thank god." Buffy held Faith to her chest, relief filling her being._

"_Geez B." Faith coughed, "If you wanted to kiss me…" …cough… her voice was raspy but Buffy could still detect the typical sarcasm in it, "Just had to ask"…cough._

_Buffy smiled, "Hey." She said, staring into the other Slayer's brown eyes, "You gave us all a scare." She said, smiling at Faith._

_Faith enjoyed the feel of being in Buffy's embrace, she felt safe in the blonde Slayer's arms; she smiled weakly at the blonde, "Ya know me"…cough…"living on the edge…" her eyes started to flutter, she tried to keep her focus on the hazel eyes but her eyelids were just too heavy. She could hear Buffy pleading with her to stay awake, her voice sounded so far away. She wanted to comply, but it was just too difficult so she succumbed to oblivion, falling unconscious once again._

_**End Flashback:**_

**Int: Sunnydale General Hospital ICU**

"Buffy."

Buffy turned her attention back to her sister, "Did you need me for something?" she inquired, suddenly remembering that Dawn had been trying to rouse her.

"You spaced out for a while there…" Dawn said, concerned, "You alright?"

Buffy sighed deeply, "Yeah, sorry, I was just thinking." She turned back to Dawn, "What's up?" she asked, trying to sound a bit more cheery.

"Giles and Willow are leaving for England soon…I thought you might like to go and say goodbye." Dawn said, shrugging her shoulders slightly, "Only if you want to." She quickly added.

Buffy stole a glance at Faith, a lump rose in her throat but she quickly turned back to her sister and smiled, "Yeah, thanks, I do want to say goodbye." she said wearily, running a hand through her hair as she blew out a breath.

"How is Willow?" Buffy asked, slowly getting to her feet and stretching all the kinks out of her muscles.

"She still won't talk to anyone…she just sits in her bed staring at the wall." Dawn replied, concern in her voice.

Buffy shook her head and looked at the floor, "I hope the coven in England can help her." She said softly, her voice tinged with sadness and regret. She looked up and Dawn could see the tears welling in her sister's eyes, threatening to spill down her cheeks. Dawn took a step towards Buffy and grabbed her in a big hug, "It'll be ok, it has to be." She said, holding Buffy for while.

"I'm ok." Buffy pulled out of Dawn's bone crushing hug and gently replaced a stray lock of hair behind her sister's ear, "Thanks." She smiled at Dawn and then headed out the door.

"I'll stay with Faith." Dawn called after her sister's retreating form. She turned to the bed and watched the slow rise and fall of the injured Slayer's chest, "She's too stubborn to cry; well, cry properly." She raised an eyebrow at the dark Slayer, "You know what I mean!" She said conversationally, taking a seat in the chair next to the bed, "She's bottling it all in…it's not healthy."

Dawn sighed as she took in the other Slayer's appearance, "You look like shit, ya know." She said, fiddling with a loose thread in the blanket that was covering Faith. Dawn was deep in thought, pondering what to say next; she felt she had to say something; it was too quiet, except for the monotonous beep of the ECG. She looked at Faith's bruised face; she looked so innocent, so young when she was sleeping, "It's hard to believe what you're…" Dawn stopped herself, "What you were _once _capable of." She said softly.

She paused and took a breath, "You've changed; I could tell the moment you removed your helmet…" Dawn stopped, thinking back to how they were running for their lives only a few days ago, it seemed so surreal, "I…" she didn't quiet know what to say, she looked up, her expression serious, "Thank you." She said softly, "For saving us all…for saving Willow….for saving Buffy."

She sighed and leant back in the chair, content to just sit and watch the ECG trace as it ran, a comforting reminder that Faith's heart was still beating.

"They're about to leave." Buffy's voice startled Dawn out of her thoughts. Dawn jumped a little as she turned to acknowledge her sister. "Thanks, I'll see you later." she said, getting up and kissing Buffy as she made to leave.

"Thanks for staying with her." Buffy said, nodding towards Faith.

"Not a problem, we had a good chat." Dawn said, trying to lighten the somber mood.

Buffy just smiled sadly at her sister as she watched her leave.

She turned to Faith and sat down beside her once again, gently taking the dark Slayer's broken hand in her own. Buffy watched her sleep but it wasn't long before exhaustion again took hold of her and she slipped into a deep sleep.

_**Slayer dream:**_

_The wind was blowing gently through the tall grass; it rippled as it flowed in time to the breeze. Faith was slowly walking through the field, running her fingers over the tips of grass as she walked. Her face was raised to the sky, drinking in the warm sunlight, smelling the fresh aroma of nature._

_A flock of birds suddenly took flight, startled by a predator. Faith stopped and looked in the direction of the disturbance, trying to make out what caused it. Suddenly a vampire jumped out of the tall grass and attacked the Slayer. She was taken by surprise which allowed him to land the first blow; an effective side kick to the chest that landed her on her butt a few feet away. _

"_Right, that's it…" Faith sprang to her feet, and charged the vamp. She threw a lethal 3 punch combination and followed it up with a devastating front kick to his midsection. He went down hard. _

"_This is MY dream." Before he knew what was happening Faith was upon him, plunging her stake into his heart with deadly accuracy. He turned to dust and she watched his remains blow away across the field. She got up and dusted her hands off, wiping them on her jeans._

"_Do you always fight vampires in your dreams?"_

_Faith started and turned to face the owner of the voice, "Hey B." she said, her characteristic grin showing off her dimples. She spared a glance over her shoulder to where the vampire was dusted, "He was ruining my perfect day." She said smirking as she once again gazed into the sky, soaking up the suns rays. 'Now it really is perfect', she thought, smiling to herself._

"_Yeah, he definitely didn't belong here." Buffy agreed, her arms folded across her chest as she watched her sister Slayer, "Way too sunny for his complexion."_

_Faith chuckled at that and lowered her gaze, slightly tilting her head as she took in Buffy's appearance; "Speaking of not belonging…" she left the statement open, looking curiously at the blonde slayer._

_Buffy walked up to Faith; she stopped right in front of the taller slayer and gazed up into her eyes. She slowly reached out her hand and gently grasped Faith's. They both felt it, the familiar tingle, it was comforting. Buffy could sense the uncertainty in Faith, the tension in her stance; her whole demeanor had changed when Buffy invaded her personal space. Gone was the sarcastic, care free attitude…it was now replaced with what Buffy was certain was the real Faith. The confident façade she always hid behind had disappeared. Now there was just a vulnerable person standing before her, needing to be loved and accepted._

"_I was worried about you." Buffy said, gently giving Faith's hand a reassuring squeeze. She could tell that Faith was slowly relaxing in the closeness of her presence. Faith opened her mouth to retort when she frowned suddenly, her expression one of confusion, pain, and hurt. Buffy could feel the sadness and pain flowing off Faith in waves. She noticed the beautiful, sunny day had turned dark with stormy, ominous clouds rolling in. She took a step back, taking her hand out of Faiths, noticing her hands were covered in blood; she looked at them in disbelief. She saw Faith looking down so she followed her gaze and stopped, staring in horror at the knife embedded deep in her abdomen. The dark slayer lifted her eyes to meet Buffy's; the sadness in her gaze broke Buffy's heart. _

"_Oh god, Faith," Buffy said, reaching out to the other Slayer, not knowing what else to do._

"_This knife will always come between us, B." Faith said, her voice tinged with sadness and resignation._

"_It doesn't have to…" Buffy was starting to cry, desperate to help the other Slayer. _

_Faith's eyes started to flutter closed as she began to lose consciousness. Buffy watched as the other Slayer started to fall, everything happening in slow motion. She stepped forward in an attempt to grab the dark Slayer to stop her falling only to find herself dragged into the dark abyss along with her._

_**End Slayer Dream:**_

**Int: Sunnydale General Hospital ICU**

Buffy woke with a start; she was shaking and covered in a layer of sweat She looked over to Faith and saw the dark Slayer was frowning, her heart rate elevated; she was obviously still reeling from the emotion of that dream.

Buffy reached over and pushed some stray locks of hair away from Faith's face.

"Faith," she whispered, wanting to comfort the injured Slayer, "It's ok…I won't let anything…anyone hurt you." Buffy said with conviction, hoping her voice would soothe the distressed Slayer. She glanced worriedly at the racing ECG trace, furiously recording Faith's elevated heart rate.

"Shhh…" Buffy rubbed Faith's cheek and then gently kissed her forehead. She was relieved to see the ECG finally slow down as the other Slayer responded to her soothing touch.

Buffy was about to sit back down when she felt Faith squeeze her hand. She looked down at the injured hand, bruised and bloody knuckles a sharp contrast to Buffy's own manicured hand. She wasn't sure if she was imagining things so she leant over the injured Slayer once again.

"Faith?" she whispered softly, staring into the brunette's bruised but still beautiful face. Relief flooded her when she saw Faith's eyelids start to flutter, trying to open.

Faith was struggling to make her eyes comply with her wishes, the lids were so heavy and she felt so tired. She squinted against the bright glare of the fluorescent lights, the brightness hurting her eyes. At first she was confused; the monotonous tone of the ECG in the background, the white, sterile looking room. Her vision was blurry but she knew she was not alone, she could feel Buffy was in the room. She managed a small smile but regretted it straight away as pain rushed through her.

"Hey, B…" her voice was so raspy and her throat was sore and dry from the oxygen. She tried to swallow but winced from the pain.

"Hey…" Buffy couldn't hide the relief in her voice, "Welcome back." She said, smiling at the dark Slayer.

"Hurts…" Faith said, frowning as she tried to fight back the pain coursing through her body.

"I'll go get someone." Buffy was about to leave but Faith's grip on her hand tightened, "Don't go." She pleaded, her eyes imploring Buffy to stay. Buffy squeezed Faith's hand, reassuringly, "I'll only be gone a second, the doctor will want to know you're awake."

Faith shut her eyes tightly against the pain as she gave a small nod.

"Welcome back, Miss Lehane." The doctor said, entering the room, Buffy close on her heels, "I'm Dr. Jordan."

"Hey." Faith's voice was a whisper.

"How do you feel?" She inquired, starting to take readings from the variety of machines Faith was attached to.

"I think she's in a lot of pain." Buffy jumped in, realizing that it hurt Faith to speak.

The doctor nodded, "Not surprising, considering the extent of your injuries." She continued writing things in Faith's chart. Finally she looked up and smiled at the Slayer, "I'll get you some pain meds and then I'd like to conduct a physical examination, if you don't mind?" Faith nodded slightly as the doctor smiled at her again before turning to leave the room.

Faith turned to Buffy and raised an eyebrow, characteristic smirk on her face, "Physical examination…?" she whispered, humor evident in her raspy voice. The doctor was hot and she knew it would embarrass Buffy…she could be such a prude sometimes.

Buffy chuckled as she grinned back at Faith, "You're incorrigible, ya know!"

"Jealous, B?" Faith managed, testing the waters. Buffy paused and stared intently at the other Slayer, trying to gauge her.

"Right, here's some good stuff to get rid of all that pain." Buffy sighed with relief, saved by the bell, or so to speak. She watched as the doctor stuck the needle into the IV port and injected the clear contents into Faith's IV line. She turned to Faith and saw her tense, pained expression finally relax as the morphine kicked in.

"That's good stuff." Faith croaked appreciatively, enjoying the lack of pain, and the feeling of euphoria the drug gave her.

The doctor just chuckled and then turned to Buffy, "I'm going to perform an examination now, if you don't mind…" she gestured for Buffy to leave but Faith kept holding the blonde Slayer's hand, "I'd like her to stay…" she turned to the doctor, her expression imploring. The Doctor glanced up at Buffy and then back to her patient, "Sure, it's up to you." She said, smiling knowingly.

"Oh, we're not…" Faith wanted to crack up laughing at Buffy's mortified expression when she realized what the Doctor was thinking. Buffy stopped mid-sentence because Dr Jordan was listening to Faith's heart with her stethoscope and probably couldn't hear her anyway.

"Cute pout, B" Faith said softly, raising an eyebrow at the blonde Slayer. Buffy turned to Faith and frowned, she stared at Faith for a while, eventually making the brunette uncomfortable. "What's up?" Faith asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Huh, oh…" Buffy flushed with embarrassment, "It's just…" she paused, choosing her words, "It's good to have you back, Faith." Buffy finally said. Faith picked up on the double entendre in that statement but her confusion was interrupted as she stifled a yelp of pain. She turned back to Dr. Jordan who was poking and prodding cracked and bruised ribs and abdominal injuries…

"Sorry." Jordan looked apologetically at her patient.

"It's cool." Faith hissed through clenched teeth, silently wishing for more morphine.

Buffy's concerned expression was not lost on Faith. The blonde Slayer was looking at the brunette's broken body with serious concern.

"Hey B, it's ok, I'm 5x5, no big!" Faith said, trying to make light of her injuries. Buffy just glared at Faith, letting the other Slayer know that her injuries were no laughing matter.

Dr Jordan left, promising to return a little later to check up on her. Buffy turned to the other Slayer once the doctor was gone, "Your injuries…they're…"

"B, it's ok…"

"Faith, listen to me." Buffy said, desperation in her voice, "They're not healing properly."

"Huh…what do you mean, not healing properly?" Faith said, sitting up as much as her injuries would allow.

"Properly is probably not the right word." Buffy corrected herself, "Fast enough is more appropriate."

"What are you saying, B?" Faith asked, starting to get a bit concerned.

"Your slayer healing should be taking care of things faster." Buffy said, "You've been here for 5 days already…"

"5 DAYS!" Faith exploded, immediately regretting it but she continued anyway, lowering her voice, "I was unconscious for 5 days?" she asked, her wavering voice betraying her emotion.

"Yeah," Buffy said softly, fully aware of how much Faith hated hospitals, and how much she would be hating the fact that she had been in another coma, "I'll call Giles, he'll know what to do." Buffy said, scared now for the other Slayer.

Faith rested her head against the pillow resignedly, "Ok." She said, staring at the ceiling.

**Int: LAX International Airport **

"Here." Giles handed Willow a cup of coffee. She glanced up at him and smiled slightly, "Thanks." She said softly. She stared at the cup in her hands, watching the steam escape from the small drinking hole. She was mesmerized by the swirling and dancing motions.

Giles sighed and sat down heavily opposite his charge. She had hardly said 2 words since they left Sunnydale. Dawn and Xander had dropped them off at the airport in LA and now they were just waiting for their turn to board the flight to London.

"It's going to be ok, Willow." Giles said softly, concerned for the Wicca. Willow flashed him a quick, hostile glare before dropping her eyes to concentrate on the steam again. The flash of darkness that crossed her eyes sent chills through Giles, but he maintained his composure and continued to sip his tea in silence.

They both jumped when the silence was shattered by the incessant ringing of his cellular phone. Willow couldn't help but smirk a little as she watched Giles getting all flustered as he tried to locate the 'annoying device' in his carry on luggage.

"Hello." He spoke into the mouth piece but almost dropped the phone when it continued to ring. He looked at it curiously, finally noticing the little green button which he was supposed to press to answer his calls. "Hello." He said into the receiver, hoping for more success this time.

"Giles!" The desperation in Buffy's voice came loudly through the receiver; Willow raised an eyebrow, her attention on Giles. "It's Faith…" Willow heard this and her heart sunk, every time she thought about what she had done to the dark Slayer she wanted to run to the bathroom and empty her stomach. She wanted to cry and scream how sorry she was. She didn't think she'd be able to cope if anything happened to Faith, not now.

"Her Slayer healing…it's…it's Broken." Buffy exclaimed into the receiver on her end,

Giles was stumped for a second; he was watching Willow, "Define, 'broken'." He said slowly, frowning as he watched the witch try to compose herself.

"She's not healing fast enough." Buffy said.

"Is she ok otherwise?" he asked his Slayer.

"She woke up." Buffy said, relief evident in her voice.

Giles saw Willow relax; she had been sitting tensely at the edge of her seat. "That's good…that's very good." He said, a small smile gracing his lips, he'd been concerned that the dark Slayer wouldn't make it, her injuries had been so severe. He felt responsible as he was the one to encourage her to come and help with the situation. He smiled at Willow, trying to reassure her, "I'll see what I can find out about her, um, 'Broken Slayer healing'." Giles said, "I'll get back to you, take care, Buffy." He chuckled a little at Buffy's description of Faith's problem.

"Thanks Giles." She hung up.

Giles looked at the phone in his hand for a second, frowning. He was about to dial the number for the coven in England when Willow interrupted him.

"There's no need to call them, I know what's wrong with her." She said softly. The intensity in her gaze scared Giles.

**Int: Sunnydale General Hospital ICU**

"Hey, how're you doing?" Buffy asked as she walked into Faith's room. The other Slayer was staring at the ceiling, obviously deep in thought because she didn't acknowledge that Buffy was there. Buffy walked up to the bed cautiously, she was worried about Faith and didn't want to startle her. She reached out to touch Faith's shoulder to try and get her attention but was interrupted before she made contact.

"I don't know what I'd do if I lost my Slayer powers." Faith said, not taking her eyes of the ceiling. Buffy could see tears starting to form in the dark Slayers eyes, she was fighting them but they were still there. She turned to Buffy, fear in her eyes, "I don't know how to be anything else." She said, her voice so full of despair it broke Buffy's heart. The blonde was about to lean over and embrace the dark Slayer when her cell phone rang. She gave Faith a small guilty smile as she looked at the display on her phone, "It's Giles, he might know what's wrong with you." She said as she answered the phone quickly, hoping none of the nurses had heard the ringing.

Faith watched Buffy talking on the phone to Giles, it was a very one sided conversation with just the occasional, 'I see', 'Uh huh', 'Really', being the contribution the blonde Slayer made. She hung up and turned to Faith.

"Bad news?" Faith said dejectedly, avoiding eye contact with the other Slayer.

"Well, it's not permanent." Buffy said happily, enjoying the brief look of relief wash over the other Slayer. "It was Willow." Buffy said slowly, "When she…" she paused, not too sure whether she really wanted to be having this conversation, she watched Faith trying to gauge the dark Slayer's reaction. She was sitting up in her bed, all her attention focused on Buffy, not showing any signs that she didn't want to discuss her fight with Willow.

Buffy continued, "When she used magic on you, at the demon temple, she weakened your Slayer essence." Faith was still staring at Buffy, confusion rapidly becoming the main emotion on her face. "I guess it's a bit like the cruciamentum, only a Willow magically administered dose, it should wear off in a few days."

"Right," Faith said slowly, not to sure what to think about the whole situation. She turned to Buffy, "How is Willow?" she asked softly.

"Still alive…thanks to you." Buffy said, sitting on the edge of the bed, staring intently at the dark slayer, "Thank you." She said, squeezing Faith's hand, "For coming back to help me…help her…we owe you a lot."

Faith felt the familiar tingling sensation as Buffy took her hand, she flashed back to the Slayer dream; Buffy standing so close to her, holding her hand, but then she remembered the knife; the blood on Buffy's hands; she couldn't shake the images from her memory, the feeling of foreboding. She looked at Buffy; the smile on the other Slayer's face warmed her heart. But she couldn't smile back; she was too confused; she expected, no, needed Buffy to be mad at her for everything she'd done in the past. She couldn't understand why the blonde Slayer was being nice to her, she couldn't accept it, not after everything she had done to her. She needed Buffy to hit her or yell at her or do something.

There was a time when Faith had thought she'd be able to atone for her past actions, maybe even seek forgiveness from the blonde Slayer for all she had done; _There are some things you can't just take back, no matter how sorry you are…_her own thoughts rang in her head; she couldn't forgive herself, _wouldn't_ forgive herself, for her actions; she was a murderer…a cold blooded killer.

A myriad of emotions were coursing through Faith as she stared incredulous at the blonde Slayer; the realization that she might actually forgive Faith her past deeds scared the dark Slayer. She wasn't looking for forgiveness, wasn't ready to accept forgiveness from anyone, especially not Buffy. Faith realized then and there that, as much as she wanted to try and make things right with the other Slayer, she just wasn't ready; she had to forgive _herself_ first, and she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to do that.

Buffy frowned at the conflict of emotions playing out on the dark Slayers face, "You ok." She was concerned about the injured Slayer.

"Don't." Faith was tired of all the pretences and niceties. She looked up at the blonde Slayer noticing that Buffy was still holding her hand so she pulled it out of the blonde's grasp. A hurt look flickered across Buffy's face as she looked at Faith, confused.

"Don't, B." Faith said, this time with more conviction, "I'm tired of this little 'game' we keep playing, pretending everything is all right between us when it's not…" Faith stared intently at the blonde Slayer, "…it will never be." She said softly, her voice betraying how tired and exhausted she still was.

"Faith, I…"

"Just go." Faith cut Buffy off and then lay back in her bed, staring at the ceiling, refusing to look at the blonde; it hurt too much and Faith needed to do this, she needed to be strong, if she looked at Buffy now her resolve would fail and she would change her mind; she couldn't allow that happen, not yet…she wasn't ready.

Buffy sat on the bed for a few seconds, shocked, annoyed, finally, angry. "Fine," She stormed off but turned back to Faith before leaving, "Wallow in your self pity, see what I care...that knife keeps coming between us because you're LETTING it, F!" And with that she was gone.

Faith couldn't help the sad smile that graced her lips, "Always gotta have the last word, hey B?" she blew out a long, shaky breath, not sure which hurt more; having B stick a knife in her gut or the feeling of her heart tearing in two as she watched the blonde Slayer storm off.


	3. Haunted

**A/N: Thanks for all the awesome reviews guys, you rock ;-)**

**A/N2: A special shout out to CBscifiJUNKY for the loads of valuable advice and input for this chapter**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 3: Haunted **

**Ext: Sunnydale General Hospital: Parking lot**

When Faith's Slayer healing finally did kick in a few days later, it wasn't long before she made a huge fuss about leaving the hospital. Four days after regaining consciousness she was getting ready to leave; against Dr Jordan's advice but she had been insistent. Faith hadn't seen Buffy since she'd told her to go; she hadn't expected to. Faith was stubborn, but Buffy; she _defined_ the word. Dawn had tried to come and visit but Faith didn't want any reminders of Buffy so she had told the nurses she didn't want any visitors so they denied the younger Summers visiting rights.

While checking out, Faith was pleasantly surprised to see that someone, probably Giles, had organized for her bike to be stored at the hospital. She was grateful; it meant she'd be able to get out of Sunnydale on her own steam and get far away from Buffy and all the confusing mixed signals. She'd also found some cash and some new clothes; a good thing because the only other clothes she had were torn and bloody from her battle with Willow, and the doctors would have had to cut those off her body anyway so they wouldn't be much use. Faith grinned, she was thinking about driving away on the Ducati stark naked with just her boots and helmet; now that would have caused a stir. She smirked, planting the helmet on her head and mounting the bike.

She took one last look at the hospital building, and then sped off, away from the bad memories that lingered around the place. She didn't know where to go so she just headed north; she reckoned she'd figure it out eventually.

_**A few months later:**_

**Int: Living Room Buffy's House**

"She's not the Anya that you knew, Xander. She's a demon." Buffy said, trying to make her friend see reason.

"That doesn't mean you have to kill her." Xander responded, conviction in his voice.

They were arguing over the fact that Anya was once again a vengeance demon and she'd killed some people. Buffy knew what she had to do, Anya was a demon after all, but she wasn't able to make Xander see reason. He was still hopelessly in love with Anya and couldn't accept the inevitable.

"Xander, I know this is hard for you to hear, but it's what I have to do." Buffy said sadly.

"Hard for me to hear? Buffy, you want to kill Anya!" Xander exclaimed, raising his voice.

"I don't want to." Buffy said with some indignation in her tone.

"Then don't! This isn't new ground for us. When our friends go all crazy and start killing people, we help them." He couldn't help but glance at Willow.

"Sitting right here." Willow chimed in, a hurt look on her face.

"I'm sorry but it's true." Xander said, looking at the witch.

"We turned our backs on Faith." Willow said softly, looking at the floor.

"It's….what?" Buffy turned her attention away from Xander and stared at the red head, "What did you say, Will."

"It's just that, well, when Xander said, I…" she was starting to get flustered.

"We didn't help Faith." Buffy said softly, staring into space, sadness gripping her heart, "She needed our help, just like you did Will, but we turned our backs." All three of them just stared into space for a while.

Finally Buffy broke the silence, "Anya is different, Xander, she's a demon, Willow and…" she paused, overwhelming feelings of guilt engulfed her as she thought about the dark slayer, she looked back at Xander, "Willow is human."

"And you're the Slayer. I see now how it's all very simple." Xander spat, venom in his voice.

"It is never _simple_." The guilt and grief shining in Buffy's eyes not lost on Willow.

**Int: Seedy Pub in LA**

Faith sat at the bar looking dejected, her head hanging, hair falling across her face as she nursed her beer. She'd been traveling around for a few months, never staying in one place too long. She did her job, killed vampires and demons, but it wasn't satisfying her anymore, not like it used to; the thrill of the kill. She had dark rings under her eyes, lack of sleep the cause. She wished she could say it was because she had been partying too hard, having a good time, but it wasn't; she'd been plagued with intense nightmares that woke her from her sleep; she was always covered in sweat, heart racing, trembling from the aftermath.

"Hey." Faith rolled her eyes as she slowly looked up to face the guy who had taken a seat next to her. She felt the familiar tingle and realized he was a vampire.

"What?" She scowled, hostility in her voice.

He held his hands up in mock defense, "Just thought you could use some company." He countered.

A psychotic smirk graced Faith's lips as she took his hand in hers, "Sure." She got up off her stool and led him through the smoky bar and outside into the side alley.

The vamp, not believing his luck, turned on her almost immediately as they exited the pub. He slammed her against the wall, an evil glint in his yellow eyes as he went in for the kill, "This won't hurt…much."

He was stopped short by Faith's laughter; it was unnerving and mildly psychotic. He pulled back a little and stared at her, "What the fuck is so funny?" he asked, a bit indignant that she wasn't at least crying with fear.

Faith looked at him, the characteristic smirk on her face suddenly replaced with a darker more ominous expression, "Fucking Vampires." Her hand shot out and connected with his jaw, sending him stumbling backwards. She was upon him before he could recover and she plunged the stake home. She stood and dusted herself off and started towards the parking lot. She didn't toy with the vamps or demons anymore, slaying was all business now, not fun like it used to be.

She wasn't paying attention to her surroundings otherwise she would have noticed the 4 figures blocking her path; instead, she just barreled right in to them. Taken by surprise Faith took a step backwards, "Sorry, my…" She took in the appearance of the four robed figures in front of her, "…bad."

She frowned, confusion quickly replaced with shock and fear as she saw a glint of silver when one of them revealed a decorative blade hidden under his robes; it was like the knife in her dreams.

"What the…"

**Int: Frat House UC Sunnydale**

"This is getting to be a pattern with you, Buffy. Are there any friends of yours left you haven't tried to kill?" Anya and Buffy were fighting; Anya taunting the Slayer as she slowly gained the upper hand, "C'mon, Buffy. Don't you have a clever retort for me?"

Anya's comment stung Buffy as she flashed to that night, on the roof, when she stabbed Faith with her own knife. _You did it, you killed me._ Faith's husky voice filled Buffy's head as she found herself thrown to the floor.

She cleared her head and slowly stood and looked at the Vengeance Demon, "Anya, I'm sorry."

Anya laughed at the Slayer, "You're apologizing to me. What fight are you watching? Or is this like one of your little pop-culture references I don't get, 'cause I'm a vengeance…" Anya lunged at Buffy who spun and pinned her against the wall, stabbing her in the heart with her sword.

Buffy took a step backwards; disgust at what she had just done filling her entire being. That night, on the roof with Faith, kept playing over and over in her mind as she looked in horror at Anya's bloody, tear streaked face; as she looked at the sword impaling the vengeance demon through the heart.

Relief flooded her as she saw Anya gasp for air and slowly come too. The demon glared at the Slayer as she grabbed the hilt of the sword and slowly pulled it out of her chest.

**Ext: Alleyway Outside Seedy Pub**

Faith sidestepped as the robed figure wielding the knife charged her. She followed through with an elbow to the back of his head, sending him flying into a pile of trash cans. The remaining 3 charged her simultaneously, forcing her to her knees as they traded blows. She fought valiantly as she managed to regain her footing, overpowering the three bringers.

She caught a flash of silver out of the corner of her eye and managed to dodge just in time, avoiding serious injury from the slashing blade. It caught her just under her rib cage, a superficial wound but it stung. She charged the knife wielding bringer and threw a devastating uppercut to his chin, a palm strike to his chest, finishing the combo off with a round kick to his head. He went down like a stone. She disarmed him and spun around to face the other 3, staggering backwards as one of them smashed a wooden crate into her face.

"Fuck, that hurt." She mumbled, holding a hand to her nose, her eyes streaming.

"You broke my nose." She said, incredulous as she looked at the blood on her hand. '_He came out of no-where.' Faith flashes to the memory of the night she killed Allan Finch, she sees his blood on her hands, its still on her hands and it terrifies her. _Something inside her cracks and she glares up at the remaining 3 bringers; rage filling her as she charges them.

They never stood a chance; Faith was an almost unstoppable force when she was angry. She destroyed the bringers before her with her bare hands, and she couldn't deny that she enjoyed the feeling of power it gave her.

**Int: Living Room Buffy's House**

"They're all Slayers?" Dawn asked questioningly, gesturing with her head to the group of girls who had just invaded their home.

"Potential slayers; waiting for one to be called. There were many more like them all over the world, but, um, now there's just a handful, and they're all on their way to Sunnydale." Giles responded, looking at the girls.

"The others were murdered." It was a statement of fact; Buffy looked at her watcher.

"In cold blood!" Giles looked sadly at his Slayer, "As well as their watchers. We always feared that this day would come, when there'd be an attack against not just an individual slayer, but against the whole line." Giles responded somberly.

"The First…that's what it wants." Buffy said, realization in her voice.

"Yes, to erase all the slayers in training and their watchers along with their methods."

"And then Faith..." She paused when she said the dark Slayers name, "…and then me." Buffy said, resignation in her voice, "And with all the potentials gone and no way of making another, it's the end. No more Slayer. Ever."

**Ext: Alleyway Outside Seedy Pub**

Faith stood in the alley panting, still reeling from the adrenalin rush. She was desperately gripping the knife, the hard steel cold against her warm skin. She looked upon the bodies of the bringers with satisfaction and it scared her. She looked at the blood on her hands, on the cool steel of the blade. Slowly, she sank to her knees, the effects of the adrenalin wearing off only to be replaced with fear, disgust, and sorrow. She knelt on the hard ground, staring at the knife in her blood stained hands, trying to swallow back all the emotions that were threatening to overwhelm her. _I won't lie to you and tell you that it'll be easy… because it won't be. Just because you've decided to change doesn't mean that the world is ready for you to. The truth is, no matter how much you suffer, no matter how many good deeds you do to try to make up for the past, you may never balance out the cosmic scale. The only thing I can promise you is that you'll probably be haunted - and may be for the rest of your life. _Angel's words came crashing into Faith's mind as she dropped the knife; the memory of _that night _etched in her mind, and buried her face in her hands, sobbing, all the emotions she had been repressing the past few years finally coming to the surface.

**Int: Living Room Buffy's House**

Buffy was standing looking out the window deep in thought; she could feel the grief pouring off Faith through their Slayer bond. She enjoyed feeling the constant tingle, it let her know that her sister Slayer was still alive; but when Faith was experiencing a strong emotion the bond seemed stronger. Buffy wanted so desperately to find the other Slayer and hold her in her arms; she was in so much pain. She shook the thoughts from her mind, she didn't even know why she cared about the other slayer, Faith had made it very clear how _she _felt in the hospital. Returning to the situation at hand, she turned to Giles, who she realized had been speaking to her. She looked at him sheepishly and apologized for her lack of attention.

Giles sighed, he removed his glasses and started cleaning them, comfort in the familiar action. He was worried about his Slayer, she seemed distracted, "Have you heard from her." He said simply, replacing his glasses and fixing the blonde with an intense stare.

Buffy folded her arms across her chest and sighed, she didn't need to ask who Giles was referring to, "No, not since the hospital." She paused and looked at Giles, considering whether to tell him that she could feel Faith through their Slayer bond. She could sense that he was genuinely worried about the dark Slayer so she decided to put his mind at ease, "She's still alive, Giles, I…"

They were interrupted by Molly who burst into the room, "Guys! Annabelle split."

**Ext: Deserted Street in Sunnydale**

Buffy slowly walked through the industrial complex; alert to her surroundings, cautiously scanning around her. She came to a dumpster and stopped suddenly, her heart dropping when she saw Annabelle's lifeless body lying in a pile on the road. She didn't hear the übervamp until it was late and she was knocked to the ground. She tried to fight back, mostly to no avail; he was too strong. Buffy reached breaking point when she released a ton of metal pipes on top of him and he still managed to get up and continue to pursue her.

She was desperate to escape, limping painfully away from the psychotic demon. All the fight had left her, she had no more, she was tired, so very tired of it all. She felt an almost sick sense of relief when he threw her into the concrete wall. She was too beaten, and too despondent to care.

As the wall and roof caved in on top of Buffy, her last thoughts were of Faith; of her expression as Buffy had plunged the knife deep into her gut. There had been no hate or anger only acceptance, forgiveness and love, unconditional love. Buffy felt like her heart was being torn in two as welcome darkness finally overwhelmed her.

"Buffy!" Xander's voice rang out through the night. He lifted a part of the metal roof that was covering his friend. She just lay there, so still, her face covered in blood and bruises. Willow and Giles looked on in horror at the injured Slayer.

"Oh, God almighty." Xander managed to sputter out.

**Ext: Alleyway Outside Seedy Pub**

Faith woke up, sore and stiff from falling asleep on the hard ground in the alley. It was still dark so she figured it must still be early morning. Slowly getting to her feet she avoided looking at the bodies in the alley as she headed for the parking lot. She stopped briefly; an intense feeling of despair filling her.

It was Buffy, the other Slayer's emotions had been pretty erratic lately and Faith had felt all of them. She contemplated heading back to Sunnydale, Buffy's grief and pain was so strong, and she wanted nothing more than to be in Sunnydale with the blonde. She stopped briefly and contemplated going back into the bar and giving Giles a call, just to check up on the other Slayer.

She shook the feeling off, there were too many confusing emotions coursing through her at the moment and she wasn't ready to face them yet.

Faith checked her watch before grabbing her helmet, pausing suddenly. Pulling back her sleeve she frowned at her watch, tapping the face, confused as to why it read 10am when it was still pitch black outside. Looking up into the sky she noticed the sun was blacked out; _an eclipse,_ she mused, but then realized that didn't make any sense, too obvious, especially after all the weird things that had been going down recently. She paused for a moment to compose her thoughts, trying to decide what her next move should be.

"Watcher would be useful, right about now." She croaked out to herself, her voice still rough from crying. Faith paused as a smile graced her lips, realization hitting her as she quickly donned her helmet and started the bike. She sped off, heading for downtown LA, for Angel Investigations.

**Int: Lobby Angel Investigations**

"Oh, relax, boys. The spell's working and I still got the slight migraine to prove it." Lorne said, holding his head.

"Yeah, maybe so, but if Angelus shows up, I wanna be ready." Gunn replied with conviction in his voice.

"Suh-weet crib." Faith said as she entered the lobby, taking in her surroundings.

Wesley glanced up at the dark Slayer, he couldn't help the unease that welled deep in the pit of his stomach at the sight of her but he quickly suppressed it, he had heard about what she did in Sunnydale, she was reformed now, or so he hoped seeing as she was standing in the lobby of the hotel.

"Faith?" confusion displayed on his face as he slowly got up and started towards the dark Slayer.

"Hey, Wes." Faith said, smiling at her old watcher, trying to appearing non-threatening.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, getting straight to business.

"Figured you guys might need a hand. Don't know about you but the lack of sunlight is not doing anything for my complexion." She responded.

"And you are…" Gunn was now standing beside Wesley, looking the Slayer up and down. He took in her blood stained shirt and paused at her face, staring at her, now only slightly bruised, nose; Slayer healing having done its job overnight.

Faith caught him staring and smirked, "You should see the other guys."

Wesley cleared his throat, ignoring Faith's comment, and turned to address the group assembled in the lobby, "Everyone, this is Faith…the vampire Slayer."

"Faith! What the hell is she doing here?" Cordelia exclaimed, walking down the stairs into the lobby.

Faith looked up and waved at the seer, "Nice to see you too, Cor."

"She's here to help?" Wesley turned questioningly to Faith who nodded the affirmative.

After the bickering settled down Wes proceeded to fill Faith in on all the details. Once she was up to speed Faith just looked at them all incredulously, "Can I just ask one thing?" she said, leaning forward in her seat, "What the hell are you people doing?"

"Leading incredibly complicated lives, obviously." Wesley responded.

Faith got up and walked to the balcony, she looked into the distance, taking in the sights of the city before her. Wesley followed her outside.

"I can't kill him, Wes." She turned to the watcher, "Angel is the only one who never gave up on me."

"I know." Wesley responded, "You're the only one able to do this without killing him." He turned to the Slayer, "So I'm glad you're here." He meant it.

Faith raised an eyebrow at the watcher, "That means a lot, coming from you." She said to him, smiling, "Thank you."


	4. Revelations

**A/N: Again, thanks for all the reviews guys ;-)****

* * *

**

Chapter 4: Revelations

**Int: Warehouse**

Faith lay on the dirty floor of the warehouse, pain coursing through her badly beaten body as she desperately clutched at her abdomen. She was struggling to remain conscious, blinking away the darkness threatening to overwhelm her. The fight wasn't over yet, and even in her severely weakened state, Faith was ready for battle.

Angelus looked outside and rolled his eyes, "Aw, crap! You mean killing the Beast really does bring back the sun? I thought that was Angel's retarded fantasy." He stood up and looked at the beaten Slayer, an evil smirk on his face, "Aah! Oh, well, what're you gonna do? Take the bad with the good, I always say. Anyway, I just wanted Beastie boy here to soften you up. I like my meat nice and tender."

The psychotic tone in his voice chilled Faith as she used some overhanging chains for leverage as she slowly struggled to her feet; she was in no condition to face the vampire so she swung the heavy hook and chains towards him before crumpling to the floor again.

Angelus dodged it easily, "Ooh, swing and a miss, slugger. Sorry, but…" realization hit him as he turned his attention to the chains as they smashed through the dirty window, letting the sunlight pour in.

He ducked for cover, "God!" he chuckled, "OK. Well, I gotta give you props." He glared at the Slayer, she was sitting safely out of his reach in the suns' rays, gingerly holding her abdomen struggling to breathe; his expression was psychotic, "Nice move, really." He smirked at her, "I guess we'll just have to take a rain check on that whole eviscerating you thing; hey, maybe Buffy can watch."

He looked at her hungrily, enjoying the pain and anger flashing in her eyes, "Just you and me, now, Faithy." He winked, "Catch you later." He disappeared into the bowels of the warehouse, his warning echoing behind him.

**Int: Buffy's bedroom.**

Buffy sat up in her bed suddenly; she was covered in a thin layer of sweat and was panting with fear. She hurt all over; she felt like she'd just gone 10 rounds with a brick wall. _Faith. _She could feel the pain the dark Slayer was in, it was almost unbearable. Relief filled her, the other Slayer was still alive, but she was obviously hurt, badly. Buffy closed her eyes and focused on sending reassuring feelings to Faith; she tried to will the injured Slayer not to give up. She could feel the pain, despair, hopelessness and self loathing pouring off the dark Slayer and it scared her.

**Int: Bathroom at Wesley's Place**

Faith stood tentatively under the shower nozzle; leaning into the water, letting it wash over her face. The tiny jets of water were so soothing, easing the pain in her battered body. She stared at the wall, utter exhaustion and despair filling her being, blood streaking down her body and legs, mingling with the warm water.

She started to punch the wall in front of her, losing control of her emotions, smashing the tiles, but not stopping; the pain in her knuckles fueling her rage. She screamed as she destroyed the wall, pieces falling to the floor at her feet.

Faith stopped pounding as a feeling of calm came over her, she took some deep breathes and let the soothing sensation wash over her. She could feel Buffy through their slayer bond, her presence was so strong. Faith felt safe all of a sudden, she didn't know why the blonde slayer was reaching out to her now but it felt so good, so right. She composed herself and stepped fully under the soothing water, closing her eyes, relishing the comforting feeling.

**Int: Buffy's Bedroom**

Buffy's connection with the dark Slayer was disturbed by soft knocking at her bedroom door. She sighed, hoping she'd done enough to reassure the dark Slayer, "Come in." she called out softly, sitting in her bed, arms folded across her legs in front of her.

Willow peered into the bedroom and smiled slightly at the Slayer, "I'm not disturbing you am I?"

Buffy smiled at her friend and gestured for her to come join her on the bed.

"Can't sleep?" Willow sat down next to the blonde, smiling sadly at her friend.

"It was just…" Buffy paused, not sure she wanted to tell Willow about the connection she had with the dark Slayer just yet, she smiled at the witch, "Just thinking, that's all." She looked at Willow; she could tell there was something on her mind, "You OK?"

Willow avoided eye contact with the Slayer, "Um, I just, I want you to know that I'm really sorry for letting you down." She looked into Buffy's confused face, "You know, here before with the magic going all aah, and me going all eeee and everything getting all rrrr." She looked apologetically at the Slayer, "I wish I could help out."

Buffy placed her hand on Willow's arm, "No one expects you to make everything right."

Willow looked dejected, "So, I can't do everything, but I should at least be able to do something. I have so much power, but when I try to use it…"

"Don't, OK?" Buffy stared intently at the witch.

"OK. But, you need help, Buffy. I know you, and I know you'll never admit it, but you need help."

Buffy's thoughts returned to the dark Slayer as Willow's words sunk in; the witch was right, she did need help, but she'd never admit it.

**Int: Storeroom behind Demon Bar**

Wesley purposefully strode out of the demon bar with his shotgun over his shoulder, Faith following him, her expression dark, "So, what? Torturing humans part of the new makeover?" she asked him, making him stop in his tracks.

"I did what I had to do because you couldn't." he started walking again.

"I hit her." Faith said, indignant.

Wesley looked at her incredulously, "You think that's something new to her?"

"You crossed it back there, Wes. What you did back there…"

Wesley stopped walking and turned to face the dark Slayer, "Oh, you have a problem with torture now? I seem to recall a time when you rather enjoyed it."

Faith looked at him, a hurt look on her face, "Yeah, well, it's not me anymore. You know that." Her voice broke, his words cutting deep.

Wesley leaned in towards the Slayer, bringing the shotgun down from his shoulder, "Nice to have this along, just in case. I remember what you did to me, Faith. The broken glass, the shallow cuts so I would remain conscious."

Faith had a memory flash to torturing Wesley, she wanted to run and empty her stomach, her guts twisting as she remembered the pain she had caused the watcher. Her thoughts turned to Buffy and how she had hurt the blonde Slayer; she felt like someone was stabbing her in the heart; composing herself she turned to Wesley, "You think I'd hurt you again?"

"This the part where you tell me you've turned a new leaf, found God, inner peace? We both know that isn't true. You haven't changed. You can't..." he spits the words out with such venom in his voice.

"Wes…" Faith holds her hands up and starts to walk away from him.

"…Because you're sick." Faith stops walking, "You've always been sick." She turns to face Wes, her expression unreadable, he continues his tirade, "It goes right down to the roots rotting your soul. That's why your friends turned on you in Sunnydale, why the Watchers' Council tried to kill you. No one trusts you, Faith. You're a rabid dog who should've been put down years ago!"

Suddenly Faith pushes Wesley violently against the chain link fence, something inside her snapping. Taking the gun she raises it behind her as if to hit him with it but stops short; _"Faith, you don't get it, you KILLED a man." "No, YOU don't get it. I don't care." _Buffy's desperate words ring in her mind as she releases her grip on Wesley, taking a step back; she did care, she cared so much it was eating away inside her, the guilt consuming her.

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Wesley says softly, ignoring Faith's glare, "It's what you'll need to beat him."

Faith takes a further step back and puts the gun down, "No." she says with conviction, refusing to become that cold blooded murderer again.

"You have to be willing to take it all the way, Faith." Wesley calls out after her retreating form.

**Int: Buffy's House Kitchen**

Buffy was standing by the sink, staring out the window, watching the potentials train. She was deep in thought, not really seeing the potentials, but rather looking past them.

Willow walked into the kitchen, "Hey, Buffy." She said softly, walking over to her best friend. When she got no response she placed her hand on Buffy's shoulder, "Earth to Buffy, you in there?" she gave the Slayer's shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"Wha…oh…" Buffy smiled and turned to face her friend, "Sorry Will, spaced out for a bit there."

Willow raised her eyebrow knowingly, "You've been doing that a lot lately." She commented.

Buffy sighed and gave her friend a small smile, "I guess this whole thing with the first is just getting to me." She said, running a hand through her hair and sighing.

Willow tilted her head and looked intently at the blonde, "No, I don't think that's what's bothering you so much."

Buffy looked at her best friend, surprise and amusement in her expression, "Oh, really." She said, leaning against the kitchen counter, arms folded across her chest.

"You're thinking about Faith." Willow said simply. She went and sat on the kitchen table and stared intently at the blonde Slayer, daring her to deny it. She had felt the feelings Faith had for the blonde Slayer when they'd been fighting, and she was sure Buffy felt the same way.

Buffy stared incredulously at her best friend, "What…no, I…Will, she tried to kill us all, she's a murderer." Buffy thought that if she said the words out loud, reminded herself of what Faith was capable of, then she would stop thinking about the dark Slayer so much.

Willow looked at the Slayer sadly, "So am I, Buffy."

Buffy's head snapped up as she heard Willow say those words, she opened her mouth to say something but she couldn't find the right words. Willow watched the conflict of emotions play out on her friend's face.

"She also saved us all when…" Willow paused, she couldn't bring herself to say _'When I tried to kill you all and destroy the world' _she smiled sadly at her friend,"…after Tara…"

"I know." Buffy said softly looking at the floor for a while, avoiding eye contact with the witch.

Willow continued to stare at Buffy, eyebrow raised, waiting for her to finally admit her feelings, "She deserves a chance, Buffy."

Buffy finally spoke, "I just wish she wasn't…argh." She looked up to see her best friend smirking at her, she sighed, "I wish she was here..." Buffy said simply, "I was angry…she was hurt…we were both…" she stopped to look at Willow, her friend was staring at her with amusement in her expression, "Oh, you are enjoying this way too much, Will." Buffy threw at her, chuckling a little.

"You're both very stubborn." Willow said, adding her two cents worth, "But I think you both need each other." Willow grew serious as she looked at Buffy, "When I…" she paused, not sure how to proceed, not sure she could call herself 'evil'. She took a breath and decided to just go for it, "When Faith and I were fighting, I could feel her emotions when we touched." She looked at Buffy, trying to gauge whether she was freaking the blonde Slayer out, they'd never really spoken about that dark period in Willow's past.

Buffy smiled reassuringly at Willow, letting the witch know she wasn't uncomfortable with the topic, "Let's just say, that even though she puts on this big tough girl exterior, Faith is really scared, and vulnerable…" Willow paused, trying to find the right words, "She is also truly sorry about what she put us through, but she doesn't know how to express it, and it's tearing her up inside, and…" she looked up at Buffy who was staring at the floor, tears forming in her eyes, "…she loves you Buffy, always has, from the day you met."

Buffy suddenly started sobbing, unable to control the emotions she was feeling. Willow got up quickly and went to embrace her best friend, "You love her too, don't you?" Willow said softly, comforting the Slayer, smiling as she felt Buffy nod into her shoulder.

**Int: Maury's Occult Bookstore**

Faith walked cautiously under the scaffolding, fully alert, trying to sense the vampire stalking her.

"I know how it feels—forced to be someone you're not. Hurts to the bone; you try to bury the pain, but you can't get the hole deep enough, can you? No matter how much you dig, it's still there: Broken shards stabbing every time you breathe, cutting you up inside. You know, there's only one way to make the pain stop." Angelus jumps down from the scaffolding, landing behind Faith, "Hurt someone else."

They continued to fight; Angelus slowly gaining the upper hand while Faith seemed to almost give up; almost.

"Come on, Faith, you're not even trying." He punches her, "Or is that why you really came back, huh? Not enough to punish yourself in prison? Is that it? Still looking for someone to help beat the bad out of you?" he punches her in the face again, "You know what the funny part is, darling? I could beat you to death, and it wouldn't make a difference. Nothing will ever change who you are, Faith." He kicks her in the face, "You're a murderer…"he punches her again, her head snaps back, "…an animal…" he smirks and punches her, then grabs her hair as he forces her to face him, "…and you enjoy it…just like me."

In that moment Faith loses it, she's fueled by anger, furious at Angelus, furious at Buffy, self-riotous Buffy, but mostly, she's angry at herself. Like a flash she's upon Angelus and throws a devastating combination of attacks at him, eventually bringing him to his knees. She straddles him and punches him in the face again and again until he can't take it anymore. Suddenly realizing what she's doing, what her anger fueled her to become once again she stops hitting him and steps back from him, "You're wrong, I'm different now, I'm nothing like you." She snarls at him.

Angelus is quick as he kicks her feet from under her and grabs her, exposing her neck, "You will be." He says maliciously as he bites down into her jugular.

**Int: Basement at Buffy's House**

Buffy stood in front of the punching bag hanging in the basement; she was still reeling from the dream that had woken her earlier. She absently rubbed her neck, the scar from Angel biting her before graduation was aching. Thinking about graduation dredged up so many unhappy memories, her heart ached with remorse over how they had all treated Faith back then. Buffy was especially distraught over her own behaviour towards the dark Slayer; the only other person in the world who understood what she went through daily.

Tears welled in Buffy's eyes, the dark Slayer had been in another serious fight, she could feel how broken Faith was; their Slayer bond was so strong now. At first Buffy thought it had all just been a bad dream, but then she had tried to reach out to the dark Slayer, just to check up on her, and that was how she knew Faith had been bitten and that was something no Slayer should ever have to go through. Buffy had tried again to connect with her sister Slayer, hoping to reassure her, but it was in vain, all she could feel were confusing and conflicting emotions. None of it made sense and it was these irrational emotions that had caused Buffy to come down to the basement for some quiet, alone time.

Buffy was also feeling a conflict of emotions within herself; she didn't know whether to be relieved that the dark Slayer was alive or furious with her for getting herself into another dangerous situation. At the moment she was feeling both emotions but her anger was slowly winning. She had come up with only one reason why Faith's emotions were so erratic and weird; the other Slayer was obviously high. But what infuriated Buffy even more was that the dark Slayer was so reckless as to get stoned and then almost get herself killed by a vampire.

Willow walked down the stairs to the basement looking for Buffy. It was too early in the morning for the blonde to be up yet here she was, pummeling the punching bag as if her life depended on it. Willow winced as she watched her friend lay in to the bag, watched her strike it with such fury. Willow could hazard a guess as to what was bothering the blonde Slayer, she knew Faith was in a bad way and she knew that Buffy would probably be feeling Faith's pain through their Slayer connection; the blonde Slayer had mentioned that she could connect with Faith through their Slayer bond.

Willow tentatively walked towards the Slayer, she didn't get too close to her, not wanting to surprise her friend and provoke an unexpected attack. She cleared her throat, the small noise having the desired effect as Buffy whipped around, defensive, hands ready to block or attack.

Buffy smiled apologetically at her friend as she relaxed her stance and dropped her hands, "Will?" her voice was rough from crying.

"Buffy? Hey, I, uh, just got a phone call. I'm gonna have to take off for a while. Maybe a day or two?"

Buffy frowned at Willow, concern in her expression, "What's wrong?" dread filling her being.

Willow felt bad about lying to her friend, but she knew, in the long run, Buffy would be grateful, "Nothing you need to worry about. I'll give you the full scoop later. Maybe I'll even bring back some good news?" She sincerely hoped that she would be bringing some good news, as much as the blonde wouldn't admit it, she needed Faith. She needed the dark Slayer fighting by her side; needed her back in her life.

Buffy sighed, "Could use a little of that. OK. I guess now is as good a time as we're likely to see for a while."

Willow pauses before heading up the stairs, "Will you be alright?" she asked softly, not happy about leaving her friend so upset.

Buffy looked up at the red head and smiled, "Yeah, I'll be fine, just hurry back." She said sadly.

"Will do." Willow replied, running up the stairs.

**Int: Lobby, Angel Investigations**

Willow stopped outside the door to the lobby, hand paused on the door handle, she heard shouting inside, "It's simple. Angelus is all that's left. First he slaughtered Lilah, now he's killed Faith." Conner yelled.

Willow's heart sank as she heard that, Faith couldn't be dead, not now.

"She's not dead yet." Willow heard Wesley reprimand, relief filling her.

"You're lying to yourselves. You all think that I'm taking this personally so that you don't have to, but inside you know I'm right. We need to put Angelus down." Conner yelled again, becoming agitated.

Willow took this as her cue to enter the lobby, no-one noticed her as she stepped inside, they were all too busy arguing.

"I don't think so." Everyone turned to look at her, she smiled, "I think you need a witch."

**Ext: Alleyway in Faith and Angel's Dream**

Faith lay against the wall in the alley struggling to maintain her grasp on consciousness; her broken, beaten body was crying out for some relief from the pain, desperate for darkness to take over.

"Faith, get up! Are you listening?" Angel yelled to the fallen Slayer.

Faith was too weak, barely even able to open her eyes to acknowledge the vampire, "Angel, I'm dying."

"Yeah? It's a lot easier than redemption, huh?"

Faith squeezed her eyes shut; Angel was right, giving up right here, right now was more appealing than redemption. She was so tired of it all, tired of fighting, tired of trying to forgive herself, but mostly just tired of running away from her feelings. _Apologize to me and I will beat you to death_. Buffy's harsh words caused more pain than any physical injury inflicted on the dark Slayer. She would never be able to make it up to the blonde Slayer; she had caused her too much pain and heartache; it would be easier on everyone if she just wasn't around anymore.

"Faith, wake up!"

She opened her eyes partially, she couldn't focus, she just wanted to lie back and sleep, let the darkness take over her, "I've rolled the bones; you for me." She said to Angel weakly, willing to sacrifice herself for him, figuring Buffy would prefer it that way.

Angel crouched before the dark Slayer, "I used to think that. That there'd be a point when

I'd paid my dues..."

Angelus came from behind and hit him, "Anybody notice a battle with your alter-ego going on?"

Angel managed to gain the upper hand again and he quickly returned to Faith's side, holding the weakened Slayer up in his arms, "Faith, listen to me. You saw me drink. It doesn't get much lower than that. And I thought I could make up for it by disappearing."

"I did my time." Faith's eyes glazed over.

Angel shook her, "Our time is never up, Faith. We pay for everything."

Faith looked at Angel, a pained expression on her face, "It hurts." She says to him, "I had my chance and I threw it away."

"Get up! You have to get up now. Faith, you have to fight. I need you to fight. Do you understand what I'm saying?" She looks at him, confused, "You need to fight if you want to see _her_ again." Angel manages before Angelus knocks him out with a metal pipe.

"What won't I miss? The moralizing. Soul's already in the ether, boyo. I can smell it. How 'bout I send it off to that big puppy rescue in the sky."

"Arf arf, psycho." Faith was standing behind Angelus, head tilted, characteristic smirk on her face.

"Faith! Getting back into the game?" Angelus seemed impressed.

Faith smirked at him, "I guess I am."

**Ext: Balcony Angel Investigations**

Angel was standing outside on the balcony, Faith came outside and stood next to him, "Hey." she leant forward on the rail.

Angel turned to her, "How're you feeling?"

"Like I did mushrooms and got eaten by a bear." Faith's voice was raspy.

Angel looked out over the city and nodded, "That about sums it up."

"Yep." Faith follows his gaze, taking in the sight.

"And now you're going to Sunnydale."

Faith raises her eyebrow as she looks at Angel, "I think I prefer the bear, but the way Willow talks it up, that's where I'm needed."

"Never stop fighting." Angel was leaning on the rail beside Faith. The double entendre in that sentence not lost on her as she glanced at him.

"Hey, I was gonna, but someone got all pep-talky on me." She said, making light of the situation.

"Tell her how you feel, Faith." Angel said, turning to face the Slayer, his expression serious, "Don't wait too long or you may be too late."

Faith blew out her breathe slowly tilting her head toward Angel, "How did you know?"

He looked at her as if to say, 'are you serious?', "I could tell from when you two first met." He smiled at her, "I think the only people it wasn't obvious to were Buffy and Faith." He said, humour in his voice. He looked at Faith again, "You both need this to happen." He said softly, placing his hand on the Slayer's shoulder, "I know there's a lot of…_messy_ history between you two, but if it's what you want you'll find a way to work through it…"

Faith looked at him and smiled slightly, "I wish it was that simple." She said softly.

Angel stood; sensing this part of their conversation is over, "I have a lot to thank you for."

"Well, that vice is plenty versa. I even start, it's only gonna lead to hugging, and..." she shrugs and smiles at the Vampire, relieved at the change of topic.

Angel chuckles, "Right. We can't have that."

"No." Faith is also chuckling as they both make their way inside.

After saying their goodbyes to everyone, Willow and Faith head for the front door, eager to hit the road. Willow turns around just before they leave, "Oh, um, next time you guys resurrect Angelus, call me first, OK?" and with that they're both gone, heading back to Sunnydale.


	5. Roads Converge

**A/N: Again, thanks for all the awesome reviews guys ;-) ****

* * *

Chapter 5: Roads Converge**

**Int: Willow's Car**

Faith stared out the side window, watching the scenery flash past as Willow drove towards Sunnydale. They'd been traveling for about 45 minutes now, neither one of them knowing what to say. Faith could feel the power rolling off the witch in waves, it was a bit disconcerting as this was the women who had almost killed her not so long ago. She sensed the change in the redhead though, she wasn't angry and vengeful; she was more calm, at peace with her power. That was the only reason Faith was sitting less than 2 feet away from the Wicca.

She heard Willow let out a deep sigh, it startled her a little as she had been so deep in thought.

"Sorry." Willow glanced at the Slayer apologetically, she could sense the tension and unease coming from Faith; she was sitting hunched up in the seat, trying to get as far away from the witch as possible.

Faith just shrugged and looked at the witch, her expression unreadable, before continuing to stare out the window.

"You hungry?" Once again Faith started, the silence broken. She was starting to get annoyed with herself for being so jumpy.

"Yeah, actually, I am a little." She said, this time smiling apologetically at the witch.

Willow nodded and pulled into the first gas station she saw. Faith got out of the car and stretched, her muscles protesting against the action, making her wince.

Willow started heading for the diner, she threw the dark Slayer a glance, taking in the pained expression on her face, "You ok?" She asked, concerned, the Slayer was still badly injured.

Faith threw her a dark look, _What do you care? _She wanted to snap, but she stopped herself, she nodded instead, "Yeah, 5x5." She brushed her hand through her hair as she headed towards the diner.

Willow rolled her eyes as she watched the Slayer stride ahead of her and into the diner. _What does that even mean?_ Were her exasperated thoughts as she followed Faith through the door.

**Int: Roadside Diner**

They sat facing each other in a booth, not looking at each other, the uncomfortable silence descending over them once again. Faith fiddled and poked at her fries with her fork, silently wishing the floor would open up and swallow her whole.

Willow watched the Slayer with amusement, "I'm glad you're here to foil their evil plan to take over your plate." Willow finally said, unable to restrain herself.

Faith raised an eyebrow and scowled at the witch, "What…" she looked at the mangled fries on her plate, "…oh." She put her fork down and sat back against the vinyl seat, arms folded, staring at the witch.

Willow felt a little uncomfortable under the intense gaze of the Slayer, she dropped her gaze, "That was a good thing you did for Angel." She said softly, looking up and smiling at the Slayer.

"Yeah, well, that's what you do when your friends are in trouble, you _help_ them." Faith said, a small amount of hostility in her voice. The double meaning in that sentence was not lost upon Willow. Faith continued to glare at the witch, trying to intimidate her.

"Yeah." Willow said softly, staring at the half eaten burger on her plate, she looked up at Faith again; this time there were tears in her eyes, threatening to spill. Faith was a little taken aback and she stopped glaring angrily at the witch, her expression softened and she frowned, confused.

"Faith, I…" Willow had to force herself to look the Slayer in the eye, "I'm so sorry." She said, tears starting to stream down her face. Faith shifted in her seat, uncomfortable with the emotion pouring from Willow, her hard exterior softened as she stared at the red head for a while longer, trying to put the words together in her head. There was no way she could let the witch accept all the blame for her actions.

She took a deep breathe and leant forward towards the witch, "It's ok, Will, I pretty much deserved it anyway." Faith leant back again, flashing back to how she had hit Willow in the Mayor's library. It nauseated her to think of how far she would have taken it had the Mayor not intervened; she hated herself for how she abused her power back then.

Willow looked up at the Slayer, horrified, "No, Faith, no-one could ever deserve what I did to you." Willow looked at Faith, pain evident in her expression, "I tried to kill you, and I nearly succeeded at that, and…" she paused, looking away from the Slayer, "…I enjoyed it…I wanted to see you in pain, wanted you to suffer, wanted you to pay for what you did to us, to Buffy…I was _evil._" She said softly, her gut wrenching as she finally acknowledged that fact to herself.

"And when I held a knife to your throat, Will, what would you call that? It sure as hell wasn't puppies and kittens?" Faith said, staring intently at the Witch.

"Yes, but, you weren't _evil_, Faith…"

Faith had to choke back her laughter as she stared incredulously at the witch, "Um, Willow, what page were you on…"

"Hear me out." Willow said, looking at the Slayer, imploring her to listen.

Faith stared at the witch a bit longer before finally backing off, "Ok." She sat back again, folded her arms across her chest and listened to Willow.

"You were confused, you were bad even, but evil…" Willow paused, she looked into Faith's eyes, watching the Slayer shift uncomfortably under her gaze, "I don't believe for a second that I would be sitting here having this conversation with you if you truly were evil, Faith." Willow held up her hand to silence the Slayer who had been about to speak. Faith just pouted and continued to glare at Willow, "If you had truly wanted me, any of us, dead, we would be pushing up daisies right now, because you're a Slayer, Faith, you have so much power…" Willow stopped, she could see cracks appearing in Faith's hard exterior, could see the vulnerable girl beneath the tough shell.

Willow continued, she needed to get all of this off her chest, and she knew that Faith needed to hear it so she would stop punishing herself.

"When we were fighting, in the magic shop…" Willow had to pause to recompose herself, it still hurt to talk about it, "…at the Pagan temple…" she leant forward towards Faith, "I could feel you, Faith, your thoughts, even your emotions when we touched."

"I remember…" Faith said softly, also not enjoying the trip down memory lane.

Willow smiled softly at the Slayer, "I felt anger, confusion, and hate inside you, but not once did I feel that you were or could ever be truly _evil._"

Faith had stopped glaring at Willow, she was now picking at a spot on the table, unsure of how to deal with all the emotions going through her at the moment.

Willow stretched across the table and placed her hand reassuringly on top of the Slayer's, "I also felt the remorse you have for what you did back then…" Willow paused, "I can feel it now, Faith."

Faith glanced up at the witch, slightly freaked out. She pulled her hand out of Willow's grasp and frowned at the witch, she opened her mouth to say something but stopped herself, she just nodded slightly, her expression sad.

"Faith, I know you love Buffy…" Faith's head whipped up as she heard Willow say that, she was taking it too far now, "Whoa, Red, hold up there…"

"Don't even deny it…" Willow paused, smiling at the Slayer, "…she feels the same way you know!"

Faith just stared at the witch incredulously, she didn't know how to respond so she did what she does best, she changed the topic, "I did deserve a bit of the beating you gave me." She smirked at the witch.

Willow shook her head and grinned back at the Slayer, "Yeah, I guess you did." She said, slowly standing up, "We should get going, don't want to travel too late."

Faith stayed in her seat a second, the realization that she was heading back to Sunnydale hit her hard; she looked up at Willow, fear etched in her features.

Willow sat back down, "I know how you feel." She looked at Faith, watching the conflict of emotions play across the dark Slayer's face, "I was terrified about going back, worried that they wouldn't accept me, that they would shun me."

Faith nodded, "But they did, right? Accept you? Because you're Willow, you're their friend." Faith shook her head, "I was never a part of your little group." She spat out.

Willow nodded, "That's true, but you could be." She raised a questioning eyebrow at Faith, "Giles told me, back in England, that he couldn't guarantee that I'd be welcomed back to Sunnydale with open arms; the same as I can't guarantee it for you. But know this, even though you may not be wanted, you are needed there Faith, and not just because of the impending apocalypse…" she looked intently at the dark Slayer, "Buffy needs you." She said simply.

Faith raised her eyebrows at that comment but didn't have a comeback. She sighed and stood up, following Willow to the car.

Willow turned to her once they were inside the car, "You have at least 1 friend in Sunnydale." She said, smiling warmly at the Slayer as she started the car.

**Int: Willows Car, Outskirts of Sunnydale**

Willow and Faith continued their journey in silence, but this time it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. They had come to an understanding; they had both been to a dark place and this common ground forged a bond between the two young women. They would, neither of them, forget nor really forgive what had transpired between them in the past, but they were both ready to move on and form a new friendship.

Faith's feelings of apprehension about returning to Sunnydale were quickly dashed when someone fell out of the pick-up truck in front of them and rolled across the road.

Willow slammed on the breaks, skidding to a stop in the middle of the dark highway. She got out of the car and rushed to the girl lying in the road.

"Are you OK? Can you hear me?" Willow rolled the girl over, "Can you talk?" she glanced up at Faith who slowly made her way to the pair, "This girl's bleeding badly. We have to get her to the hospital." She says desperately.

Faith just nodded knowingly and than stared down the dark road, unfazed, "Yep. Guess I'm back in Sunnydale."


	6. Misunderstandings

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews guys. Sorry I haven't posted in a while, things have been crazee (well, crazier) downunder ;-)**

**Chapter 6: Misunderstandings**

**Int: Sunnydale General Hospital**

Faith was fidgeting, shifting her weight from leg to leg as she stood beside Willow watching the emergency surgeons try to save the life of the girl they had found out on the highway. She was obviously very uncomfortable with being back at this hospital yet again. Willow threw occasional, understanding glances toward the twitchy Slayer; the poor girl looked as if she might bolt any second.

Finally, Faith broke the tense silence, "You sure she's one of us? She doesn't look like much now. Not a potential slayer, I mean."

Willow sighed and continued to watch the flurry of activity that was happening behind the glass, "Don't know, seems to fit though. We'll know more when she regains consciousness."

Faith gave a disbelieving chuckle, "_IF_ she regains consciousness," she turned to the witch, "girl's been gutted like a catfish."

Willow nodded sadly, "Yeah."

Faith watched the procedure for a little while more until finally she couldn't stand it; she had to get out of the hospital. The memories she had of this place were too painful, she needed air. She turned to Willow, "Look, Will, I NEED to get out of here." Her voice a desperate plea, "I have to go blow off some steam, ya know." She cocked her head as she smirked at the witch.

Willow blew out a deep breath; she had already called Dawn, looking for Buffy, so she knew the blonde Slayer was out patrolling. She sighed as she saw how agitated Faith was, "What if you bump into Buffy? I, ah, I don't think meeting her alone is the best idea right now." Willow was all kinds of nervous as she watched the dark Slayer scowl.

"Willow, please tell me you told B I was coming." Faith's tone was desperate.

Willow couldn't make eye contact with Faith, "Well, um…"

Faith stared at the witch incredulous, "Great, just fucking awesome." She absently ran a hand through her hair.

"She'll be happy you came, Faith," Willow said, trying to ease the tension, "…she's just…well, you know how stubborn Buffy can be."

Faith scoffed at the witch, "We didn't exactly part on the best of terms last time we were in the same room," Faith looked around, "in this actual hospital," Her voice dripping with disdain, "story of our lives…" she mumbled under her breath. She looked up at the witch, "Look, I can't stay here any longer, I've spent way too much time in this hospital." She sighed, "If we bump into each other I guess we'll just deal," Faith grinned at the witch, "I mean seriously, what's the worse that could happen?" she tried to regain some of her bravado, hoping it would hide the gut wrenching fear coursing through her being right now.

Willow just looked at Faith with a nauseated smile on her face.

"Don't answer that." Faith said quickly, frowning as images of knives flashed briefly through her mind; she saw how worried the witch looked, "I'll be fine, Will." Faith smirked, "I'll see ya later." She called out after her as she stalked towards the exit.

**Ext: Cemetery in Sunnydale**

Faith's movements were stealthy, almost cat-like as she made her way through the cemetery, senses on high alert to any demon activity that may be taking place. She was also concentrating on her Slayer connection with Buffy, hoping it would at least give her a heads up before she bumped in to the blonde Slayer. To say Faith was nervous would be an understatement, her guts felt like they were twisting in knots and she had an overwhelming feeling of nausea. The fear and guilt she was feeling were suddenly forgotten as she saw a young woman running in the distance, a vampire in hot pursuit. Faith took off running and made it to the pair just in time to pull the vampire off the fallen woman.

"Whatcha wanna do to her, vamp?" she circled the vampire like prey, "Huh? Something like this?" she punched him, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Spike regained his footing and looked the leering Slayer up and down, "Nice punch you got there. Lemme guess. Leather pants; nice right cross, doe eyes, holier-than-thou glower...you must be the other Slayer…Faith, right?"

Faith grinned psychotically at him, "Oh, goodie. I'm famous."

"Pretty, dark hair, likes to kill things…" Spike watched Faith's expression darken, "Not likely to forget…" he is suddenly flying through the air again, only stopping when he connects hard with a headstone. He shakes his head, not quiet able to comprehend the speed and power of that attack, "Bit of a misunderstanding here. I'm…" he starts, trying to stand but Faith interrupts him.

"Spike? Yeah, we've met before." She nods as she stalks up to him.

"We have? I don't think we…" he stops as the wind is knocked out of him by Faith's kick to his torso, "Bloody hell! What're you doing? I'm on your side."

"Yeah? Maybe you haven't heard. I've reformed." She punches Spike again, enjoying herself now.

"So have I." Spike punches Faith in the face, "I reformed way before you did." They exchange blows, neither one of them gaining the upper hand.

"Stop…" Spike hits Faith hard, "hitting…" he punches her again, "…me! We're on the same side!"

Faith stopped and looked at the blonde vampire incredulous, "Please. You think I'm stupid?"

"Well, yeah." Spike grinned at the Slayer, enjoying baiting her.

Faith scowled, "You were attacking that girl." Once again she laid in to Spike, punching him.

Faith was too busy fighting with Spike to notice the familiar tingling that should have alerted her to Buffy's presence. She pulled her hand back, about to hit Spike again when her arm was grabbed in a very strong grip. Before Faith knew what was happening a fist connected with her cheekbone with a sickening crunch, sending her sprawling face first into the floor.

Faith lay there stunned for a second; long enough to feel that Buffy was close _very _close. She spat some blood on the ground and gingerly stood up, turning around to face the blonde Slayer.

Buffy's body language changed dramatically as she too suddenly realized who it was; that the tingling she'd been feeling was real. She didn't relax her fighting stance though, after all, Faith had been attacking Spike. She glowered at the dark Slayer, not too sure what emotion she was feeling upon seeing her again.

"Hey, B." it came out so softly, so resignedly.

Buffy continued to glare at Faith, still unsure of how to react, she let her instincts take over, and when that concerned Faith, that usually led to fighting. She stalked up to the brunette, getting right in to her personal space. Faith held her ground, she was a little intimidated by the small Slayer, but she wasn't going to back down or run away again. She could sense the anger and disappointment pouring off the blonde; she opened her mouth to speak but Buffy beat her to it.

"You are the most reckless, thoughtless, self-centered, ugh…" Buffy caught a glimpse of the fresh scar on Faith's neck and her anger took over; she punched Faith in the face again, this time hitting her in the nose. Faith stumbled backwards, her head snapping back with the momentum of the blow. She regained her footing and grabbed her nose, blood streaming down her face. _Fuck, that just healed._ She thought as she tried to focus on Buffy through the tears welling in her eyes.

Faith was just able to make out Buffy standing close to Spike, checking him over to make sure he was alright. She took a step forward, her vision clearing, frowning as she took in the interaction between the two, "Are you protecting vampires? Are you the bad slayer now? Am I the good slayer now?" Faith was genuinely confused as she scowled at them both.

"He's with me. He has a soul." Buffy was short with the dark haired Slayer.

Faith was shocked, not expecting that answer, "So he's like Angel?"

Spike jumped in and scowled at Faith, "I am _nothing_ like Angel."

"He fights on my side." Buffy said shrugging, staring deep into Faith's eyes, "Which is more than I can say for some of us." Satisfaction washed over her as she saw the pain in the brunette's eyes.

Faith glared at Spike, trying to brush off Buffy's hurtful comment, "Yeah, well if he's so good, what's he doing chasing down defenseless…"

The young woman that Spike had been chasing suddenly jumped up and tackled Faith to the ground.

Buffy pointed to the vampire, "That's one of the bad guys."

Faith quickly regained her footing, "Damn, you should make them wear a sign or something." She traded blows with the vamp, toying with her a little as she scanned around for a stake. When she was close enough to Buffy she reached into the blonde's back pocket, causing the Slayer to flinch at the tingling sensation the small contact caused, she grabbed a stake and then she finished the fight with the vamp.

"Angel's dull as a table lamp. And we have very different coloring." Spike said, pouting.

Faith raised her eyebrow as she looked at the vampire, "Riight." she smirked and then turned her attention back to Buffy, "So, I heard there was another big bad in town, that you might need some help." She smiled at the blonde, a genuine smile, not her characteristic smirk.

Buffy just stared at the other Slayer, disbelieving, "I don't need help from reckless, drug addicted, suicidal Slayers, thank you very much."

Faith stared at Buffy in utter disbelief, _Drug addicted? Suicidal? What…? _And then she realized with a sinking feeling that Buffy had most likely felt her little Orpheus trip into hell with Angel, and the blonde Slayer had obviously misinterpreted the feelings, "B, listen, I can explain…" she trailed off, the blazing anger in the blonde's eyes stunning her into silence.

"Save it, Faith, go back to whatever little junkie hole you crawled out of. I don't need your help, never have, never will!" And with that she turned her back on the stunned brunette and walked away with Spike following closely. He threw occasional cautious glances over his shoulder, not fully trusting that the dark Slayer wouldn't come after them with a knife.

Faith watched them go, her heart ached with grief, she didn't want Buffy thinking she was some useless drug addicted junkie. She hung her head and turned to leave in the opposite direction.

**Ext: Revello drive**

Buffy was storming down the street towards her home as if her life depended on it. Spike was trotting to keep up with the angry Slayer. They hadn't said a word to each other after their encounter with Faith in the graveyard. He could sense the emotions pouring off the Slayer, if he didn't know any better he would have sworn she had just had her heart broken by someone.

"You sure showed that bitch…" Spike tried to strike up a conversation. Buffy didn't even acknowledge that the vampire had spoken. Not to be dissuaded so easily Spike continued, "I mean, who does she think she is? Coming back to town after all she did here…" he trailed off, still not getting any response from the blonde Slayer.

He grabbed Buffy's arm in an attempt to get her to stop and talk to him, Buffy didn't look at him as she shrugged his hand off her arm and continued to walk home in silence. The pace had slowed down a bit and Spike was now walking comfortably beside the Slayer.

"Look, Buffy, something is obviously bothering you…" Spike tried again to make contact with the Slayer, "What is going on between you and Faith?" saying the dark Slayer's name got a response from the blonde, maybe not what Spike was hoping for, but at this point any reaction from the blonde was welcome. Buffy had stopped walking and was standing on the sidewalk, staring ahead into the darkness, clenching and unclenching her fists at her sides. _I knew it! _Spike thought triumphantly, stopping beside the Slayer. He looked at the blonde, his expression serious, "If you need her gone, Buffy, just say the word and she's history."

Buffy slowly turned to face Spike, her eyes red and bloodshot from unshed tears. Spike frowned, not expecting to see her looking so sad. Buffy glared at the vampire, "Shut up, Spike." She hissed, "This does not concern you." And with that she stormed ahead again, nearly at her destination.

**Ext: Cemetery in Sunnydale**

_She didn't mean it; she couldn't have meant what she said, not after what Willow told me at the diner. _Faith was walking absently between all the headstones, deep in thought, not really paying attention to where she was going. Her chest ached, it felt like she had been stabbed in the heart and Buffy had just twisted the blade.

'_Time was, I thought humans existed just to hurt each other.' _Angel's words invaded her thoughts as she went over the encounter with Buffy. She smiled sardonically, shaking her head, thinking of her history with the blonde Slayer. '_I found out that there are other types of people. People who genuinely wanted to do right. And they make mistakes. And they fall down.' _Faith slowed down; finally taking those words she had scoffed at all those years ago to heart. '_But they keep caring. Keep trying. If you can trust us, Faith, this can all change. You don't have to disappear into the darkness.' _Realization hit her; she stopped dead in her tracks. Angel had been talking about Buffy; he had known all along how they felt about each other.

Her gaze fell on the headstone before her; it bore a name very familiar to her. She gingerly knelt before the stone and traced her fingers reverently along the grooves of the name engraved there. A tear escaped and fell down her cheek as she was overwhelmed with remorse and regret for what she did.

"I am so sorry I never got a chance to apologize to you in person, Mrs. S." she said sadly, tracing the J in 'Joyce'.

**Int: Summer's Residence**

Buffy threw the door to her house open and walked in, startling Giles and Dawn who were sitting at the dining room table. She glared at Giles briefly before turning to Dawn who had come up beside her, a worried expression on her face.

"Willow has been calling, she's at the hospital with a girl, a potential, she's hurt bad." Dawn says quickly, sensing the anger pouring off her sister.

Buffy frowned and then turned on her heels, pushing past Spike who was lurking in the doorway, and headed for Sunnydale General.

Spike watched her leave and then turned to face Dawn and Giles, "Had a little run in with Faith at the cemetery." He shrugged, and headed for the basement, not relishing the idea of hanging out with the Watcher any longer than necessary.

"Faith?" Dawn exclaimed after the retreating vampire. Giles just took his glasses off and began to clean them, a small smile gracing his lips.

Spike stopped briefly, "Yeah, Faith, psycho Slayer." He snarled.

"She's not psycho!" Dawn tried to defend but it fell on deaf ears as Spike had already descended into the basement.

**Int: Sunnydale General Hospital**

Willow saw Buffy walk in to the emergency room; she could feel the fury pouring off the Slayer. She rolled her eyes, _Great, just great Faith, what did you do? _Willow walked up to the blonde, she had her back turned, scanning around the waiting room.

"Buffy." Willow gently placed her hand on her friend's shoulder.

Buffy wheeled around and glared at the witch, "You brought _Faith _back with you." She snarled, glaring daggers at the witch.

Willow wasn't intimidated by the Slayer, "Not right now, Buffy, we're in a hospital." She frowned at her friend.

Buffy sighed, combing her fingers through her hair, calming herself, "How is the girl?" she asked resignedly.

"She's awake; she asked to talk to you." Willow started to head in the direction of the ICU, encouraging Buffy to follow her.

After talking to the potential, and learning about Caleb, Buffy turned to Willow, "We need to talk, now." She gestured for the witch to follow her outside.

Willow starts once they are out on the sidewalk, "Buffy, I know you and Faith didn't part on the best of terms, but seriously, I didn't realize you held _this _much anger and hostility towards her."

"Things have changed, Will." It pained Buffy to talk about it; she still had strong feelings for the dark Slayer.

"Why? What changed, Buffy? You love her, she loves you, you need her here!"

Buffy looked sadly at the witch, "She obviously doesn't love me enough." She said, fighting the lump in her throat as she said that. She took in Willow's confused expression and told the witch about Faith being high on drugs and reckless while fighting vamps, "She's obviously unstable and doesn't give a damn about anyone but herself, Will."

Willow looked at Buffy in horror, the words sinking in as she realized what Buffy was implying, "Buffy…" she looked at the Slayer, fear in the pit of her stomach, "It's not what you think…" and she told Buffy about how Faith had selflessly saved Angel.

Buffy looked pale and nauseated as she listened to Willow, regret for her actions and fear for the dark Slayer replacing her anger, "Oh Will, I…I said some horrible things to her." Buffy said, putting her hand over her mouth, fighting the urge to burst into tears.

"We have to find her." Willow said, desperation in her voice.

"How?" Buffy trailed after the witch, "She could be anywhere by now."

"Locator spell." Willow called over her shoulder, already heading back to the house.

**Ext: Cemetery in Sunnydale**

Faith was still sitting at Joyce's grave; she was just staring at the ground, grief stricken. She was so preoccupied that she didn't hear the rustle behind her until it was too late. She caught movement coming from her side out of the corner of her eye but she didn't react fast enough so the blow to her head still hurt like hell when it connected. She rolled forward to get out of range quickly and with one fluid motion she gracefully leapt to her feet and turned to face her attackers. She frowned when she recognized them; they were dressed the same as the monks who had attacked her back in LA. _Bringers?_ She remembered what Willow had told her about the First and its minions.

She smirked at them, confident in her ability to fend them off. She had managed well enough in the alley after all. Her confident smirk turned to a small gulp of fear when she realized she was surrounded by at least 15 of them; they had started moving towards her out of the shadows. Faith swallowed back the fear, refusing to allow it to overwhelm her. She shrugged and dived right in to the nearest Bringer, smashing her fist into his face, sending him flying backwards away from her. _At least I'll go out with a fight._ She thought as she smashed her elbow into the Bringer sneaking up on her right side.

She had managed to take out 6 of them before they finally gained the upper hand and she was forced to the ground, trying to block all the kicks and punches raining down on her body. Their attack was brutal. Faith tried valiantly to recover but there were too many of them, and she wasn't yet at full strength after her fights with The Beast and Angelus. A well timed kick to her head sent her flying back a few feet, her vision blurring, darkness threatened to overwhelm her. She was vaguely aware of a Bringer with a knife descending upon her, aiming for her heart when he was hit full force from the side, his attacker rolling along the ground with him. Faith watched with some amusement as the rest of them went flying through the air, away from her. She sat up a little, taking in a sharp breath as her ribs protested against the movement. Relief filled her as she saw Willow standing 10 feet away, sending the Bringers flying through the air with flicks of her wrist.

Faith struggled to her feet, fighting against the pain in her body and the pounding in her head that was threatening to overwhelm her, "Thanks, Will." Her voice was soft, broken, filled with sadness.

Willow's heart went out to the bruised Slayer; she looked so despondent, all hope gone. The Witch could see in Faith's expression how betrayed she was feeling, how deep Buffy's cruel words had hurt her. She closed the distance between herself and the Slayer, "Are you OK?" she asked, concern in her voice and expression.

"Yeah, 5 by 5." She said unconvincingly, suddenly aware of how strong Buffy's presence was, she could feel the slight humming that was their Slayer bond. Faith followed Willow's gaze, she sighed resignedly and turned to face the Slayer standing behind her.

Buffy was standing a few feet away, she had finished off the Bringer she tackled and after making sure that Willow's spell had sorted out the others, she turned to go and face the dark Slayer. She was saddened by Faith's appearance, she was bruised and bloodied, not all of the blood from the fight with the Bringers Buffy realized, guilt washing over her. Faith's shoulders were slumped; she was so dejected and broken. Buffy wanted to run up to her and grab her in her arms and beg for her forgiveness, but she knew Faith and she realized that would be the quickest way to send the Slayer running. Instead, she just stood there, trying to appear unthreatening.

"I'm so…." Buffy stopped herself, saying sorry to Faith right now was probably not the right approach, she tried again, "I know what you did for Angel…" she stared into Faith's eyes, so much sadness was reflected back at her, "Thank you." She said softly, gratitude in her expression.

Faith just nodded slightly, she drew herself up to her full height, running a hand through her hair, glancing at the cemetery exit in the distance.

_Oh god, she's going to run! _The thought of losing Faith right now terrified the blonde Slayer, "Please stay, Faith…we need…" Buffy caught Willow's eye, the witch was standing behind Faith smiling, nodding her head encouragingly. Buffy tilted her head and looked desperately at the dark Slayer; "_I_ need you…" she trailed off, finally admitting that she needed help.

Faith was stunned, she stared incredulously at the blonde, she had not expected this turn around. Faith narrowed her eyes as she scowled at the Slayer, "What happened to, _'I don't need your help, never have, never will!'_?" Damned if she was going to make this easy for the other Slayer.

Buffy stood before the dark Slayer, shifting her weight uncomfortably. A twinge of annoyance at the other Slayer building up inside her, seriously, how was she to know that Faith was doing something good back in LA. Buffy's stubborn streak won the internal battle going on inside her, "You've _never_ given me a reason in the past to believe in you; to ask for your help." She blurted out, instantly regretting it the moment the harsh words left her lips. She saw the flash of anger and pain go through Faith's eyes, then the dark Slayer just turned on her heels and started to walk away. Buffy couldn't move, she was frozen to the ground watching the retreating form with regret.

"_Buffy_…" Willow was now standing beside her friend, "…are you just going to let her leave?"

Buffy snapped out of her trance, "Wha…" she looked at Willow, fear in her eyes, "…no, I…" she took off running after Faith. When Buffy reached the other girl she grabbed her hand to stop her walking, it had been on instinct, she hadn't thought about the consequences an action like that might have. Faith stopped suddenly in her tracks and glared down at the hand that was holding hers in a vice-like grip. Her gaze followed the arm until she was looking into Buffy's worried face. Buffy didn't let go of Faith's hand, she couldn't, the sensations she was feeling from the small contact she had with the dark Slayer were so powerful, it almost took her breath away. She took it as a positive sign that Faith hadn't wrenched her hand out of her grip, "I was out of line." She looked imploringly at the dark Slayer, "Please, I want to try and work things out." She held Faith's intense gaze, the brunette seemed to be searching deep, almost staring into Buffy's soul.

Faith pulled her hand out of Buffy's, the action wasn't angry, more resigned, "Fine…" She said softly, "I'll stay."


	7. Conflicting Emotions

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the VERY slow update rate, and thanks for being so patient. Vet school is getting very intense and demanding at the moment so please bare with me over the next 74 days or so... I promise I will finish this story, it may just take a while…thanks again for all the awesome reviews…you guys seriously rock!**

**Chapter 7: Conflicting Emotions**

**Int: Summer's Residence**

"I've been through more battles with Buffy than you all can ever imagine. She's stopped everything that's ever come up against her…"

Willow walked into the house followed by Buffy, Faith trailing behind. They all turned their attention to the living room; Xander was speaking to the potentials.

"She's laid down her life—literally—to protect the people around her. This girl has died two times, and she's still standing. You're scared? That's smart. You got questions? You should. But you doubt her motives, you think Buffy's all about the kill, then you take the little bus to battle. I've seen her heart, and this time—not literally. And I'm telling you, right now, she cares more about your lives than you will ever know. You gotta trust her. She's earned it."

Buffy smiled at Xander, tears forming in her eyes as she heard the words her long time friend spoke.

"Damn. I never knew you were _that_ cool." Faith tried to ease some of the tension between her and Buffy. Everyone in the room turned to face the trio standing in the doorway.

Buffy welcomed the comment; they had pretty much walked back to the house in silence after leaving the cemetery, "Well, you always were a little slow." She said, smiling warmly at the dark Slayer.

Faith returned the smile, "I get that now." She said softly, the double entendre not lost on Buffy or Willow.

"Faith," Giles steps forward, a warm smile on his face, "welcome." He could tell how uncomfortable she was with the whole situation, especially being under the close scrutiny of all the confused potentials.

Xander nodded towards the dark Slayer, she could see the betrayal in his eyes, she had hurt him badly and that was something she would have to live with for the rest of her life; but she was hopeful that they could maybe work things out one day, "Xander." Faith nodded and smiled at the man.

"Faith." The Slayer turned and saw Dawn standing beside her.

"Hey, little D." she smiled at Buffy's sister and then was momentarily caught off guard as she was engulfed in a big bear hug. Faith didn't quiet know how to react, she slowly raised her arms and awkwardly returned the hug.

Buffy could feel the unease pouring off the dark Slayer; she grabbed her arm and pulled her away from Dawn and all the intense stares in the other room, "Let's find you a place to crash." Buffy said, almost dragging Faith behind her.

The tension in the room seemed to ease a bit as Faith and Buffy left. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence before Kennedy piped up, "Who's Faith?"

**Int: Buffy's Bedroom**

Buffy was busying herself setting up a makeshift bed for Faith to sleep on. The dark Slayer had trailed into the room behind Buffy, feeling nervous and uneasy. She hated not feeling in control so she hid behind sarcasm and witty banter, "We're really moving forward fast with this relationship, B." She said leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over her chest, characteristic smirk on her face.

Buffy stopped what she was doing, D_id she seriously just say that? _"What?" Buffy looked up at Faith, "Oh…no, it's just…I thought…"

_God she's cute when she's flustered. _"Chill B, I'm just teasing. I know you want to keep a close eye on me," she paused, a sad frown on her face, "and, no-one else in their right minds would share a room with _psycho _Slayer." Faith murmured.

Buffy stood up straight and took a step toward Faith; she stopped short, not wanting to freak the other Slayer out by invading her personal space, "That's not why you're sleeping in my room, Faith." Buffy said seriously, "I can only imagine how difficult it must be for you facing everyone here, so…" she trailed off.

"I appreciate it." Faith said softly, staring intently into the blonde's hazel eyes.

**Int: Kitchen, Summer's Residence**

"Faith; her name alone invokes awe. Faith; a set of principles or beliefs on which you are willing to devote your life. The dark slayer; a lethal combination of beauty, power, and death. For years and years—or to be more accurate—months, Faith fought on the side of good, terrorizing the evil community. But like so many tragic heroes, Faith was seduced by the lure of the dark side. She wrapped evil around her like a large, evil Mexican serape. She became a cold-blooded killer. Nobody was immune to her trail of destruction. Not friends, not family... Not even the most pacifist and logical of races."

Willow walked in to the kitchen and overheard Andrew talking to some of the potentials…she had to suppress a laugh when he described how Faith had apparently killed a 'Vulcan'.

"Faith has a history not to be taken lightly. She's a killer. Never forget that. You must stay on guard around Faith at all times. Your very lives may depend on it." He stared knowingly at his audience.

Willow interrupted the conversation on that cue, "Shut up, Andrew." She said snappily, breaking up the 'kitchen party'. Andrew pouted as he followed the potentials out in to the living area. Willow glanced out the window and saw Faith practicing some kicks and punches in the back yard. She frowned as she saw Faith wince as she was training; the Slayer's healing had been slowed down yet again when she was brutally attacked by the Bringers the night before.

She was about to head out to go check on her when she saw Buffy approach her instead. Willow smiled and remained in the kitchen, watching the interaction between the two Slayers.

**Ext: Back yard, Summer's Residence**

Buffy stood watching Faith practice her strikes, an appreciative smirk on her face as she studied the brunette closely. She was startled out of her daydream when she suddenly realized the dark Slayer was standing there staring at her, a naughty smirk on her face. Buffy blushed instantaneously as she realized she's been caught red-handed checking out Faith's ass.

"See something ya like, B?" Faith asked, humour in her tone.

Buffy grinned sheepishly at the other Slayer, becoming serious as she noticed Faith gingerly holding her side, "You OK?" she asked, frowning as she realized that the brunette was still recovering from serious injuries. She looked guiltily at Faith's nose; it appeared to be healing well but was still a little bruised, no thanks to her.

Faith shrugged her shoulders, "It'll all heal," she said, gesturing to her injuries, she winced and grabbed her abdomen and ribs again, "I just seriously don't need to be kicked in the abdomen anymore…" she trailed off, grimacing as she remembered her fights with The Beast and Angelus.

"Sorry about your face." Buffy said, smiling apologetically.

Faith grinned at the Slayer, "No drama, good thing you still hit like you used to." She said jokingly.

They both laughed and headed indoors, the tension in their relationship slowly easing.

**Int: Basement, Summer's Residence**

Faith walked in to the basement and sat down on the stairs, glancing at the door as the noise of girls chattering upstairs permeated downstairs. She sighed and took out a cigarette, lighting up. She narrowed her eyes and scowled as she saw Spike appear out of the shadows.

He threw up his hands in defense, "I was just leaving, Slayer, in case you decide to get all dust happy again."

"Smart idea," Faith growled, stepping aside so the vampire could walk up the stairs. She was about to sit down again when she heard the basement door open and close again, followed by footsteps on the stairs. She turned and scowled up at the intruder, "What do you w-" she stopped as she saw it was Willow, "sorry, thought you were someone else." She said apologetically to the Wicca.

"Spike?" Willow asked, sensing that the dark Slayer didn't like the vampire much.

Faith raised an eyebrow, 'who else' her expression read, and smiled at the red head, "What's up, Will." She took a drag of her cigarette.

"Just checking up on you, ya know, all this must be pretty stressful." Willow shrugged and smiled.

Faith sighed and groaned inwardly as more noise came filtering into the basement, "No more Starbucks for the wannabe's man. They've been spazzing for like, hours." She grumbled.

Willow chuckled as she sat down next to Faith, "Yeah, it can get pretty intense up there I guess…"

They sat in silence for a while, comfortable enough with their friendship now, their new found understanding of each other.

Willow broke the silence first, "You had the power to walk away any time, Faith…any time! What stopped you?"

Faith stared ahead, watching the smoke from the end of her cigarette dance and swirl in front of her, "_I _stopped me, Red." Faith looked at the witch; hurt in her eyes, "Is that so hard to believe." her voice broke, betraying her emotions.

"No…god, no, Faith, that's so not what I meant." Willow was getting flustered, "It's just…I…" she looked at her feet, avoiding eye contact with the Slayer who now had her full attention on the witch, "…I admire you, so much…I don't think I could have done it…" Willow noticed Faith's confused expression, she continued, "I don't think I would have made it in prison…I respect what you did…" she trailed off.

Faith stared intently at the Wicca, "I got dangerous for a while…it was for the best." She said softly, flicking her cigarette butt onto the floor.

"I get that…" Faith only heard Willow's response because of her Slayer hearing.

Faith couldn't stand the somber mood anymore, "So," she smirked at the red head, "what's with you and the baby Slayer?"

Willow blushed and grinned at the dark Slayer, shaking her head, "I could ask the same of you and Buffy…" she trailed off, getting the desired response as Faith snapped her mouth shut and just glowered at the witch.

**Ext: Forest, outskirts of Sunnydale**

Buffy and Faith were trailing one of the Bringers, hoping he would lead them to the First's base of operations.

"No eyes, but look at him go. He got sonar or something?" Faith was a little in awe of how these blind monks were able to so efficiently get around and kill potential Slayers around the world.

"Or something, I guess." Buffy replied, shrugging her shoulders.

"Do they just roam free around town?" Faith raised an eyebrow at the blonde Slayer.

"Well, normally, they show up out of nowhere, and then either stab or get stabbed, and then they run off. Looks like this guy wants to be found."

"Lends weight to the whole "it's a trap" theory." Faith said, frowning slightly.

Buffy spun round to face the brunette, annoyed, "I'm through waiting around for people to attack us." She snapped, tired of everyone questioning her motives.

Faith put her hands up, defensively, "Hey, I'm with you. Drop me in the hornet's nest, what the hell? You got a rough stitch here, trying to turn a bunch of little girls into an army..."

"They're potential slayers, just like we were."

"Right, maybe they'll do as good as us." Faith said, staring intently at Buffy.

"They're getting better." Buffy sighed, trying to convince herself of this fact.

"I'll work with 'em. Some of 'em seem real eager. Fashion disasters, yeah, but they're ready to fight." Faith could sense Buffy's frustration; she wanted to help the blonde.

Buffy stopped walking and turned to face Faith, "Why did you come back?"

Faith struggled to hide the hurt she felt at the blonde's question, "Willow said you needed me. Didn't give it a lot of thought. Do you…am I getting you want me to be not here?" she asked incredulous.

Buffy sighed, immediately regretting her words, "No, that's not what I meant. I'm...glad that you're here. It's good. Thank you." She continued to walk, tracking the Bringer.

They continued to walk in silence for a while until Buffy stopped suddenly, her frown deepening as she took in the dark Slayer's demeanor. She really had changed, she didn't have that arrogance about her, she seemed more at peace.

"Why did you kiss me?" Buffy was still frowning.

Faith stopped in her tracks and turned to face the blonde, confusion registering on her face, "Huh…?"

Buffy stared intently into the brown eyes, "You had a knife to my throat, but instead, you kissed me, then you bolted…" Buffy was staring searchingly at Faith.

Faith swallowed as she realized what Buffy was talking about and the memories of that night came flooding back to her; she had been so hurt, so angry when she found out that B and Angel had been playing her the whole time.

Buffy saw the pain and anger flash through the other Slayer's eyes; and then she saw it, the sorrow and regret, it was eating away at Faith. But then, predictably, the walls came up and the dark Slayer scowled at her.

"What, would you have preferred the alternative, B?" Faith snapped.

Buffy sighed, frustrated with the other Slayer, "Of course not, I'm just trying to understand."

Faith dropped her gaze, "Sorry." She mumbled apologetically. Buffy raised an eyebrow; she wasn't used to hearing apologies from the dark Slayer. Buffy was shaken out of her thoughts as she noticed that Faith was staring intently at something so she looked over her shoulder to see what had captured the brunette's attention, "Buffy, what is this place?"

She followed Faith's gaze and saw lots of Bringers heading into a building.

"I think we just found our hornets nest." Faith said, still staring at the Bringers, avoiding meeting the other Slayer's gaze.

"Let's get the cavalry." Buffy started to head back in the direction of her house.

**Int: Wine Cellar**

Caleb was smiling psychotically at Buffy, "So, you're the Slayer, _The_ Slayer. The strongest, the fastest, the most aflame with that most precious invention of all mankind—the notion of goodness…" he suddenly punched her and sent her flying across the room into the wall, "The Slayer must indeed be powerful. So, what else you got?" he looked smugly at the battle going on around him.

Faith was still outside the cellar, ready to lead the second wave of potentials into the attack, when she suddenly felt Buffy's distress. Without thinking twice she charged into the battle, her team following her. She arrived in the cellar in time to see Spike vamp out and attack Caleb, only to be batted away like a fly. She saw Buffy lying unconscious across the room and all reason left her as she stalked purposefully towards the preacher. Faith had a knife in each hand as she attacked him, a murderous glint in her eyes. He wasn't fazed by her attack; he seemed to be amused more than anything else.

"Well, you're the other one, aren't you? You're Cain to her Abel." Faith threw one of her knives at him, but he dodged and smirked at her, "No offense meant to Cain, of course." He grabbed Faith's arm, as she attacked him with the other knife, twisting it and locking her in position. He smirked at her, twisting her hand, forcing her to drop the knife. Faith kneed the preacher in the crotch, managing to escape from his grip; she quickly backhanded him across the face.

"Never was much for the good book" she said through gritted teeth as Caleb grabbed her arm and twisted it painfully behind her back. She doubled over and fell to her knees as he cruelly twisted and pulled her arm as he walked around to face her.

"Oh, it has its moments. Paul had some good stuff, for instance. But overall I find it a tad complicated." He hit her in the face, "I like to keep things simple." He kicked her across the room into a stack of wine barrels.

Buffy watched the dark Slayer go flying across the room, at the receiving end of Caleb's brutal blow. She struggled to her feet to try and get to the preacher, but the Bringers kept attacking her, slowing her down. She saw Caleb cornering Molly, but she was powerless to get there to stop him, there were just too many Bringers. She watched him, horrified as he plunged a knife into Molly, dropping her to the ground as he turned to smirk at Buffy.

She attacked him, finally breaking away from the Bringers, enraged at what he did to Molly, but more furious at him for hurting Faith. Her rage gave her a slight advantage and she managed to avoid most of his blows, finally punching him across the room.

"We need to get out of here, now!" Buffy yelled desperately, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw Faith across the room. The other Slayer was trying to help the wounded to their feet, ushering them all towards the exit. Buffy was shaken out of her daze by a horrible, pained scream. She turned, horrified to see Caleb with his finger plunged deep into Xander's eye.

**Int: Dining Room, Summer's Residence  
**

Buffy, Faith, Dawn and Kennedy were sitting around the dining room table reading through the file that Willow and Giles managed to get from the police.

"Hey, Buffy... How was Xander's mood, you know, exactly? And did you get a chance to talk to the doctor about the meds? Because it seemed like…" Dawn was interrupted by Faith. The dark Slayer could see that Buffy was close to breaking point so she quickly intervened.

"Hey, pipsqueak, why don't you go get some of the stuff you've already gotten from Giles?" Dawn caught Faith's eye and understood what the Slayer was doing. She looked apologetically at her sister.

"Or, um, we can talk about this later…" Dawn got up to leave.

Buffy avoided eye contact with her sister as she left the room, she didn't want to break down and cry in front of the others, least of all Faith, "Try to find anything that looks like Caleb, his church, his ring..."

"His ability to render a slayer useless in just one punch." Kennedy stopped herself, she saw Buffy's hurt look and Faith's scowl, "I didn't— that was stupid. I don't know why I said that." She hung her head.

Buffy stood up, swallowing back the tears that were threatening to fall, "It's OK. Um...you know, I—I have to go to the school to pick up the rest of my stuff."

Kennedy felt bad about what she had said, she pushed her chair back and stood to face Buffy, "I really didn't mean to…"

Buffy shot her a small smile, "It's OK Kennedy." She glanced at Faith; the other Slayer was just staring at the papers strewn on the table. Buffy recognized the murderous look in Faith's eyes; she could almost see the anger pouring off her, furious at her inability to take down Caleb, "Faith…"

"What, B?" Faith snapped her head up and glared at Buffy.

"I…" Buffy sighed and grabbed her purse, "nothing." she shut the door gently behind her.

"_Fuck_…" the word was breathed out softly as Faith ran both hands through her hair and then rested her head in her hands, her elbows on the table.

Kennedy looked at the dark Slayer, confusion etched on her face, "Uh, Faith?" she said softly, bracing herself for a similar attack to the one Buffy received.

"We should look through these." Faith finally said after a long silence. She gestured to the police files lying on the table before her.

"Yeah." Kennedy slowly pulled some pages towards her as she frowned at the dark Slayer.

**Int: Sunnydale High**

Buffy sat at her old desk holding a picture of herself, Willow and Xander from their high school days. They all looked so happy, carefree, not a worry in the world. She started to cry as she gently touched Xander's face.

"Oh, now, look...Things don't go exactly your way, so here come the waterworks. Ain't that just like a woman?" Buffy looked up slowly to see Caleb standing in front of her desk.

"Get out of here." She snarled at him, hatred in her voice.

"Now, now, little girl, manners, I do imagine that firebrand tongue of yours has inflamed many a man, weak as they are." He started looking around.

Buffy stood up slowly, backing towards the drawers behind her. She tried to open a drawer, the whole time watching Caleb as he continued to speak as he surveyed the office.

He turned to find Buffy trying to open the drawer, "Ah, ah, ah…Wouldn't do that were I you, sweetpea. Fighting back didn't do you much good last time, did it? And how is poor, sweet Xander? Let him know he's in my prayers, and any time he's willin', I'm ready to...finish the job." He made a poking gesture at his eye, infuriating the blonde Slayer.

Buffy glared at him, her eyes filled with hatred, "Go near Xander again, and I will end you." She said with conviction.

**Ext: Front Porch, Summer's Residence**

Faith was sitting out on the front porch, alone with only her thoughts to keep her company. She grabbed a cigarette out of her pack and went to light it, stopping as an image of herself plunging a stake into Allen Finch's chest invaded her thoughts. She saw blood on her hands, _his_ blood. She felt her chest tighten, she couldn't breathe properly. Faith closed her eyes and took deep calming breaths; she opened her eyes and held her hand up in front of her face, it was shaking. She was relieved to see no blood stained her hands, at least not literally.

Faith lit her cigarette and took a deep drag. The action calmed her as she stared out into the darkness. She frowned as she thought about Buffy and how difficult she was to read. Supposedly she had all these feelings for Faith yet she could still act so cold and uncaring; but then sometimes it seemed like she was about to open up. Faith blew out a deep breath; she was fed up, the blonde Slayer could be so frustrating sometimes. She flicked the cigarette on to the floor when suddenly she was hit with a surge of emotions; pain, despair, fear. _Buffy?_ Faith frowned and shook the feeling off and scowled as her thoughts turned to the blonde. She was at the school; she would be fine; she was probably just really upset about Xander and needed the time alone. Faith glared into the night and sighed;_ And I really can't deal with her caring more for everyone else over me right now!_ She angrily crushed the cigarette butt with her boot and turned to go back inside. She paused with her hand on the door handle, taking a deep breath to quell her emotions as she prepared to face everyone once again.

**Int: Living Room, Summer's Residence**

Faith walked into the living room, Giles was arguing with Spike about taking Andrew on some mission.

"There may be demons... lurking about. You never know. He's a demon expert. He can help." Faith raised her eyebrows and smirked as she heard this.

"Oh, please."

Faith's expression darkened as she turned her gaze upon the demon who had spoken those words with disdain.

"Well, he can bring his pan flute thing along. Excellent. Off you go." Giles almost pushed Spike and Andrew out the door.

"So, see? That's something, right? We'll have some news soon." Dawn tried to sound cheerful and positive for the potentials.

"Sure. Maybe that'll get us somewhere." There was no conviction in Amanda's tone, only resignation.

"_Maybe_?"

Dawn turned around, "Faith, you're back."

Faith smiled briefly at Dawn, "While we're waiting for information the troops here gotta sit and stew, feeling crappier by the minute."

"We should keep them occupied." Dawn was deep in thought.

Faith smirked, "Yeah. I know how to keep them occupied."

**Int: Bronze Nightclub**

"This is so cool. Buffy would never let us do this. You are so cool. This woman is so cool!"

"Hey, hey, how old are you?" Faith stared at Amanda quizzically.

"17."

Faith frowned and took Amanda's drink, "Yeah, we're gonna get you a real nice 7-up, OK?" she shook her head and laughed to herself as she returned to the dance floor. She turned as she caught a glimpse of 3 sinister looking police officers standing behind her.

She smiled at them, "Hey, I was wondering what was taking you boys so long. Where you been?"

**Int: Summer's Residence**

Buffy was scowling at Giles, angry that he had sent Spike away on a mission again, "You sent away the one person that's been watching my back—again."

"We're all watching your back!" Giles was indignant.

Buffy laughed sarcastically, "Funny... that's not really what it feels like." She started to walk away and then paused, "Where did everybody go?"

"What?"

"Faith, the girls, where are they?"

Giles looked a little uncomfortable under Buffy's intense stare, "Um...Faith thought that the girls could do with some time off their studies. I—I thought...She took them to the Bronze."

Buffy shook her head, rolled her eyes and stormed out of the front door.

**Ext: Alley, The Bronze**

Faith wrestled free from the officers' grip, "I tell you right now, I'm not goin' back to jail." She started towards the door to go back inside the bronze, but it shut in her face before she got there.

"Who said anything about jail?" She turned around slowly and saw the three officers pointing their handguns at her.

Faith's survival instinct overtook all reason and she attacked the cops, trying to wrestle the guns away from them. She found herself pulling her punches, afraid of killing again, and so it wasn't long before the tables turned and Faith was on the ground with the cops raining blows down on her with their batons. She managed to kick the feet out from under one of them and this gave her enough time to regain her footing. Faith could feel rage starting to boil deep inside of her; she overpowered one of the cops and straddled him, punching him in the head. The two remaining officers pulled her off the fallen cop and threw her to the ground, hitting her brutally with their batons once again. Faith shielded her face with her arms in a desperate attempt to protect herself. She heard the door to the bronze burst open and the potentials and Dawn rushed out and jumped in straight away to help the Slayer out.

Faith got to her feet once more and grabbed one of the cops, shoving him into the wall, a baton pressed against his throat. He slumped to the ground just as Buffy walked up to them all.

"Faith, what are you doing?" she stormed up to the dark Slayer.

Faith cringed as she took in Buffy's dark expression; she knew the blonde was disappointed in her, yet again.

"We were just blowing off steam…" Faith frowned, "Well, it started that way. Turned when the cops went evil on us." She stood before Buffy, baton clutched in her hand, desperate for the other Slayer to see her point of view.

**Ext: Alley, The Bronze**

Dawn trailed behind the potentials as they all shuffled out of the alley heading for home; she could hear the heated exchange between her sister and Faith. She stopped and turned to look at the two Slayers. She was saddened by the angry exchange between them, she wished they would both just admit their feelings and start to get along with each other. She winced as Buffy threw a powerful right hook at Faith which sent the dark Slayer sprawling to the ground at her sister's feet. Dawn watched her sister storm off and then her gaze fell upon the dark Slayer. She was holding her cheek, staring at Buffy's retreating form. Dawn saw the mix of emotions crossing Faith's face, despair, anger, disappointment…and love. Dawn's heart caught in her throat, she felt so bad for the Slayer, she took a step forward, wanting to go and comfort Faith.

"Dawn, we're leaving." Buffy was suddenly standing next to her sister. Dawn spun around to face her sister, furious for the way she had treated Faith, she opened her mouth to say something but stopped. There it was too; behind all the pain and anger Dawn saw the love in Buffy's eyes as her sister threw a quick glance in Faith's direction. She sighed and followed her sister back home, looking sadly over her shoulder at the figure hunched on the floor.


	8. You Always Hurt the Ones You Love

**A/N: Hey guys...so I finally managed to get an update out ;-) Thankyou sooo much for all the wonderful reviews and for your patience with me during the last few slow updates. I only have 55 days left until I'm not a VIT (veterinarian in training) but fully qualified so I am going to have to put this fic on hold until them...but, as I promised before, I WILL finish this fic...my wonderful beta and friend, CBscifiJUNKY, and I are gonna have a fun time plotting out the rest of the story once I get this damn degree behind me, so watch this space ;-)**

**

* * *

****Chapter 8: You Always Hurt the Ones You Love**

**Int: Summer's Residence**

Buffy kept stealing occasional glances at the front door as she sat in the living room waiting for everyone to assemble for the meeting. She was concerned about Faith; worried that the Slayer had run again; and who would blame her after the way Buffy had treated her outside the Bronze.

Willow frowned as she watched her friend's behaviour, she had been given a brief run down of the situation but she didn't know details. She quickly kissed Kennedy on the forehead before moving across the living room to go and sit with her best friend.

"Is everything alright, Buffy?"

Buffy tore her gaze away from the front door, "Yeah…I mean, well…" she scrunched up her forehead and looked at her friend sadly before dropping her head into her hands in frustration, she blew out a long breath, "not really."

Willow gently rubbed Buffy's back, trying to comfort the distressed Slayer, "She'll be OK," She said gently, "just give her some time." Willow couldn't suppress a chuckle, "This is Faith we're talking about, she's almost as stubborn as you are."

Buffy's head shot up and she glared briefly at the witch before smiling sadly, "I messed up again, Will." Her voice breaking as she tried to hold back the tears. She allowed herself to be drawn into Willow's comforting embrace, snuggling into her best friend's shoulder.

Buffy suddenly sat up out of Willow's embrace; she glanced towards the door again as she got to her feet.

"What is it?" Willow sensed the urgency in the blonde Slayer, "Is it an Über vamp?"

Buffy shook her head as a relieved smile graced her face, "No," she looked back towards her friend, "she's back." She said simply as she went to the door and looked through the side window. She saw Faith sitting alone on the porch, the dark Slayer was staring absently into the darkness, a cigarette hanging limply from her fingers. A wave of guilt washed over Buffy as she saw Faith's bruised cheek; the bruise she had put there. She shook her head and sighed as she started thinking about her past with Faith; when had things started to go so terribly wrong?

Buffy was startled out of her thoughts when she heard Faith give a sarcastic chuckle as she engaged in conversation with Robin. _When did he get here?_ Buffy was mentally kicking herself for being so absorbed in her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed his arrival.

**Ext: Porch, Summer's Residence**

"Looks like someone banged you up pretty well."

Faith sighed, "Yeah. Cops. Mostly."

"Mostly?" Robin frowned at the dark Slayer.

"Yeah," Faith pointed to her cheek, "This one's from someone who just thinks she's a cop. It's my favorite of all my current bruises."

Robin chuckled as he sat down, "So someone who thinks she's a cop, huh? You gonna have to, like...ice her now or something like that?"

Faith looked at the principal and smirked, "I'm not gonna kill her. Wanted to, but didn't. By the way, bully for me since no one else said it."

"For what? For not killing Buffy?"

Faith sighed resignedly, "It's this new thing I'm tryin'."

Robin grinned at Faith, "She told me about you."

"Believe every word." Faith continued to smoke her cigarette and absently stare into the darkness.

"So what changed? I mean... why didn't you fight back?"

Faith sighed, "Other things matter more."

"I think you're worried about her."

Faith had to suppress a laugh as she looked at Robin with utter disbelief, "I think you need to brush up on your Buffy and Faith history."

"All right, if you say so. But I read people pretty well. It's a thing I do."

Faith shook her head and laughed as she continued to stare down the dark street, "Whatever…" she trailed off.

Robin folded his arms and stared intently at the dark Slayer, "I think you care about her, and I'm not talking about in that 'she's my friend' kind of way." His gaze was daring the stunned brunette to disagree.

"What?" Faith's eyebrows were raised, "Have you even been a part of our conversation these last 5 minutes?" she chuckled disbelievingly.

Robin smirked and nodded at the Slayer, "I think you are both just hiding your feelings, too afraid to let them show."

"You have it so wrong," Faith was glaring at the Principal.

"Do I really?" he stared her down, "What are you so afraid of, Faith?" he paused, seeing all the emotions flashing in her eyes, the pain and regret that burdened her each and every day, "What is it? Afraid of losing control?" he continued to stare intently at the Slayer. And there it was, fear, such a raw and powerful emotion, he saw it in her eyes, "You're afraid of rejection." He said softly, smiling sadly at the Slayer.

Faith didn't know how to respond, she was totally not expecting a perfect stranger to be able to read her so well. She just stared at him, stunned into silence, her mouth agape as she took in his words. She was disturbed out of her reverie as a car pulled into the driveway, "Xander's home." She said with relief.

**Int: Summer's Residence**

Buffy slowly closed the curtain, a little shocked at the conversation she had just overheard. She quickly moved back into the living room as Faith and Robin entered the house followed closely by Xander and Anya.

She waited for everyone to settle after greeting Xander before starting the meeting, "Look, I know what you're thinking, but I had a visit at the school today from Caleb."

Faith's head snapped up as she heard this, it felt like someone had punched her in the gut and they were now slowly squeezing her heart.

"Buffy, why didn't you…" Dawn took a step towards her sister, concern in her expression.

Buffy interrupted her, "I'm fine. I mean, it wasn't fun, but I'm fine. I'm better than fine. I—I figured something out. He kept making all this noise about the school."

Faith was distracted as the horrible, sickening realization washed over her. She had felt Buffy's distress, but more importantly, she had _ignored_ it. She leant against the wall, her legs feeling weak all of a sudden. "I'm so sorry." It came out so softly, only Buffy heard the comment.

She stopped mid-speech to face the dark Slayer, "What? Did you say something?" She frowned.

Faith gulped and shook her head, "Its nothing." she looked up, prepared to face the blonde Slayer, to try and explain to her why she had ignored their bond, but Buffy had already turned away to address her audience once again.

"They're protecting the vineyard or something at the vineyard. I say it's their power, and I say it's time we go in and take it away from them."

Faith regained her composure and stared disbelievingly at the blonde Slayer, "Or, in the alternative, how 'bout...we don't? I mean, it's a neat theory, B, but I'm not going back in that place, not without proof, and neither should you and neither should they."

Buffy turned and glared at Faith, her cold gaze piercing right to the core of the dark Slayer. Out of everyone there she thought Faith would be the one to understand why they needed to do this; she thought the other Slayer would have her back. Buffy was a little surprised at how much it hurt that Faith was questioning her. Her glare softened a bit as she looked at her counterpart; for a brief moment everyone else in the room was forgotten as she thought about pulling the other Slayer close into her embrace, reassuring her that she didn't need to fear being rejected. But then Faith's worried frown brought her back from that brief daydream; and that's when she realized that the other Slayer didn't trust her to make the big decisions anymore either; everyone was against her, they'd all stopped believing in her. The hurt and anger that coursed through Buffy needed an outlet; she needed someone to unleash all her anger and frustrations on to. It was an easy choice, really; who better to direct your anger at than the one person who had been the target from the beginning. _You always hurt the ones you love._ The thought flitted briefly through Buffy's mind as her expression turned cold once again.

"Didn't you come here to fight?" she spat out at the Slayer, satisfied as she saw the hurt flash across the dark Slayer's face.

_No, B, I came here for you._ Faith sighed, the hostility the blonde had just shown her hurt to the bone, "Listen, we're fighters, all of us, but you gotta give me something to fight, something real." She looked sadly at Buffy, begging the blonde to see reason.

Faith looked at the floor as the blonde turned her back on her to continue the heated debate with the rest of the gang. She was still beating herself up over ignoring the bond she had with the other Slayer; Buffy could have died, and it would have been her fault for not reacting. _They're right about me, I am a fuck up._ She shook her head and continued to stare at her boots

"Because I'm _The Slayer_." Buffy threw a brief look in Faith's direction. She could feel the turmoil; the sadness pouring off the other Slayer. In some twisted way it made Buffy happy that she had that effect on Faith.

Faith was snapped out of her train of thought by Buffy's comment; it hurt her to hear the blonde speak like that. It reaffirmed how much she obviously cared about the other, less important Slayer in the room. Faith scowled at Buffy's back, the high and mighty attitude seriously getting on her nerves.

"And isn't Faith a slayer, too?"

Faith was caught off guard at Rona's comment, "What? Whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm not in charge chick. I think B here needs to just...chill out for a little bit, take a siesta or something. But I'm not the one you want." She continued to glare at the blonde, the hurt she was feeling shining bright in her eyes.

"Maybe we need a vote... to see who wants Faith to have a turn in charge." Kennedy piped up.

"No." Buffy said sternly, "No, you don't get to vote until I've had my chance to pal around, you know, get everybody drunk. See, I didn't get this was a popularity contest. I should have equal time to bake them cookies, braid their hair…"

"Learn their names?" Faith looked intently at the blonde Slayer.

Buffy turned and glared at Faith; she walked up to the brunette, getting right into her personal space, trying to intimidate the taller girl, "You're just loving this, aren't you?" she spat out with disdain.

Faith frowned and held her ground, not letting the blonde intimidate her, "You have no idea what I'm feeling." Faith stared intently into the blonde's eyes, anger flashing in her own. She was hating this shift in the energy between them, the hostility; she could feel the negative emotions pouring off the blonde.

Buffy glared at the brunette, a malicious glint in her eyes, "Come in here, take everything that I have... You did it before. Did you tell them that? Did you tell them how you used to kill people for fun?" Buffy turned to face the rest of the group, "Hey, you guys think that's nifty?"

Those words cut deep and it took all of Faith's restraint and willpower to not hit the self-riotous blonde right there; she took a deep calming breath, trying to repress the overwhelming surge of emotions she was feeling, "I didn't come here to take anything away from you, but I'm not gonna be your little lapdog, either. I came here to beat the other guy, to do right, however it works. I don't know if I can lead. But the real question is...can you follow?"

The expression in the blonde's eyes tore into Faith; she could see the disbelief and betrayal. She had to resist the overwhelming urge to take the blonde in her arms and tell her it would all be alright. Things moved along very quickly after that and before she knew it, Buffy was grabbing her coat and storming out of the house. It took a second for Faith to react, for the implications of what had just occurred to hit her. She quickly followed the blonde outside.

"Buffy…I…" she paused, what she wanted to say was that she loved the blonde and beg her not to leave. Faith looked at the other Slayer sadly, concerned, "Look, I swear I didn't want it to go this way…"

Buffy stood still, her back to the dark Slayer, "Don't" she snapped, tears streaming down her face.

"I mean it, B, I…"

Buffy turned to face the other Slayer, her face tear streaked, "Don't be afraid to lead them. Whether you wanted it or not, their lives are yours. It's only gonna get harder. Protect them…" she stared intently at Faith, "…but lead them." And with that she spun on her heels and left.

Faith watched the retreating form of the blonde, she felt like her heart had just been ripped from her chest. But she knew the blonde was right, she had to protect them all now. She sadly turned around and went back in to the house.

**Int: Buffy's Bedroom**

Faith was sitting on Buffy's bed, absently hugging Mr. Gordo as she stared at the opposite wall. The shadows, cast by the flickering flames of the candles she had lit, were mesmerizing and she had been watching them all night, unable to sleep, ever since she managed to get away after trying to calm everyone down when the lights had cut out.

It was with a heavy heart that she went over the evening's events in her mind. As much as Buffy's high and mighty attitude had pissed her off, she couldn't help but wish that the blonde was still there. Faith was afraid to lead these girls into battle, she didn't know if she could do it without Buffy by her side.

Faith could feel the sadness pouring off the blonde, she was so lost, so hurt, so alone. She was about to reach out to her when she heard a commotion downstairs. Anger quickly replaced all feelings of regret she had about Buffy leaving as she heard Spike's voice downstairs.

**Int: Kitchen, Summer's Residence**

"You know, I think I do, Rupert. You used to be the big man, didn't you? The teacher; all full of wisdom. Now she's surpassed you, and you can't handle it. She has saved your lives again and again…"

Faith paused outside the kitchen, her heart wrenching as she heard the words spoken by the vampire. As much as she hated to admit it, Spike had a point.

"She's died for you. And this is how you thank…"

"Hey. Why don't you take it down a notch or two? The time for speech-giving is over, bat boy." Faith was tired of hearing him give his little speech about Buffy, as far as she was concerned, the less he talked about the blonde, the better.

Spike grinned maliciously as he crossed his arms over his chest, "Oh, is that right?"

"Yeah, that's right. Save your lack of breath." Faith frowned at the vampire, looking him up and down.

Spike just shrugged and punched Faith in the face, "All right."

Faith whipped around to face the vampire, fury blazing in her eyes, "Oh you are so gonna pay for that, blondie." She kicked Spike in the abdomen.

Spike retaliated with another blow to Faith's face; she was unfazed as she countered with a well timed backhand to his face, following up with a kick that sent him flying into the dining room and across the dining room table onto the floor.

"I want…" punch, "..you.." punch, "…gone…" Faith continued to hit the vampire until Giles intervened.

"Enough!" It was sufficient to distract Faith and she went flying off Spike as he aimed a kick at her midsection and leapt to his feet.

"I'll go when Buffy tells me to go, love." He snarled at the dark Slayer, his head snapping back with the momentum of the punch she sent his way.

"I'm sure she only keeps you around out of pity for you; you're pathetic." Faith spat out at the vampire, punching him again.

"Is that what you really think…" he trailed off and smirked at the dark Slayer, he knew he had got to her; he could see the hurt in her eyes as she realized the implications of his comment. He knew how she felt about the blonde Slayer and it would be over his dead body that he'd allow anything to happen between the two Slayers. He punched her and then followed up with a kick, taking advantage of her distracted state of mind. Faith flew hard into the wall and just stood there, stunned.

They glared at each other for a moment before Spike spun around and exited the house.

Faith straightened up and walked past the Scooby's, the potentials and finally Giles, she avoided eye contact with any of them as she headed down the basement stairs, intending to take her frustrations out on the punching bag.

**Int: Basement, Summer's residence**

Faith finally stopped pounding the bag and leant against it, gently rocking as it swung on its chains. Sweat was pouring off her and her knuckles were bleeding; she had forgone applying padding to her hands in favour of just attacking the bag the moment she got down in to the basement. No-one had come down to bother her; _smart move_. She glowered, stepping away from the bag.

She sighed deeply, trying to push the rejection she was feeling away. She needed to be strong to lead these girls, she didn't have time to dwell on hers and Buffy's tumultuous relationship; there were bigger things at hand. She slowly walked up the stairs and headed towards the kitchen. She paused before entering, hearing her name mentioned as Anya and Xander talked.

"…Faith is crazy; she's been attacking that punching bag for an hour." She overheard Anya's comment, "And how she lost it before with Spike, girl has some serious anger management issues…"

"He deserved it."

Faith stood there, shocked as she heard Xander come to her defense. She smiled to herself, her heart swelling, maybe there was hope that she and Xander could become friend's one day. She was about to walk in and interrupt them when Xander continued.

"After what that, _thing…_" he spat the word out, "did to Buffy…" Faith could hear the fury in his voice. "I wish she'd staked him." He said with conviction.

This revelation shocked Faith; she had been under the impression that the Scooby's were OK with Spike.

"_Nearly_, did to Buffy…" Anya corrected, "He never actually raped her." She said softly, "Thank god."

"That doesn't excuse him." Xander spat.

Faith didn't hear the rest of the conversation, her world had stopped, she couldn't form a coherent thought; an uncontrollable rage was building inside of her, all reason had left only to be replaced with blind fury.

Anya looked up startled as she heard the door slam, "Who was that?"

Xander shrugged and quickly looked out the window; he paled when he saw Faith stalking down the path. Her demeanour and expression reminded him of the 'old Faith', the psychotic Slayer, the murderer who had tried to strangle him. "I think she overheard us." He said sadly, shaking his head.

**Ext: Streets of Sunnydale**

Faith paused on the sidewalk and reached out to try and sense Buffy; somehow she knew that if she found the blonde Slayer, she would find Spike as well. The thought of the two of them together nauseated her, especially now she knew more about their past. Faith couldn't understand, didn't want to understand, why Buffy had not killed the vampire when he had attacked her. She sighed and took off in the direction she thought Buffy had taken; she was going to destroy the vampire for what he had done.

It didn't take Faith long to stumble upon the house Buffy had crashed at. She could feel the blonde's presence, but more importantly, she could sense the presence of a vampire nearby; she knew it was Spike, her gut instinct was screaming at her that the blonde vampire was nearby.

She looked around and saw a large tree outside what she hoped was the bedroom window to the house. She scaled it easily and peered through the window; what she saw sent fresh waves of fury coursing through her; rage, disappointment, rejection. The pain in her chest was almost too much to bear as she watched Buffy lying curled up in Spike's arms.

Faith was seething, but she stayed put and watched them the whole night; her rage boiling inside of her. She wasn't surprised when Buffy finally woke up and looked around confused; she was sure the blonde was picking up on her emotions. For a moment Faith thought she'd been spotted when Buffy stared out the window and straight at her spot in the tree. It felt as if the blonde's eyes were boring into her; it was very disconcerting and Faith contemplated jumping out of the tree and running; that is, until she saw the tiny smirk grace the blonde's face. It was so subtle but Faith didn't miss it as she watched Buffy write a note and then lean over and kiss the vampire on the forehead before grabbing her jacket and exiting the house.

Faith felt as if Buffy had shoved that knife back in her gut and given it a twist for good measure. Yet, as much as she wanted to direct her rage at the other Slayer, she couldn't do it; no, her anger and hate for the _vampire_ were beginning to overwhelm all of her other emotions.

Faith watched Buffy storm down the pathway, she saw the blonde glance quickly at the tree. Was that a flash of regret she saw cross the Slayer's face? It took all of Faith's strength and willpower not to jump down out of the tree and confront the blonde. No, she scowled once more at the sleeping vampire; she had more pressing matters to attend to.


	9. A Slayer too

**A/N: Well, I'm back after a bit of a longer hiatus than anticipated. Thank you all for your patience and for sticking with this story. The good news is, I've finished vet school and after a bit of a hectic few weeks after graduating, and then the chaos of Christmas and New Year, I finally managed to finish chapter 9. CBscifiJUNKY, my wonderful beta, has given this chapter the once over and deemed it fit and readable for you, my lovely readers. I promised you all that I would finish the story and not leave you hanging, so, without further ado, I give you chapter 9…enjoy ;-)**

**A/N2: Because it's been so long it may be worth your while skimming through the previous chapter. Hell, I had to re-read the whole story to remind myself what exactly I was doing with it ;-)**

* * *

**Chapter 9: A Slayer too…**

**Int: Random House Bedroom**

Spike groaned and turned over, squinting through his bleary eyes at the blurry figure standing at the foot of the bed. He could sense the presence of a Slayer and the tingling on the back of his neck had woken him up.

"Buffy?" he rubbed his eyes, trying to clear his vision, confused as to why he could feel hostility coming from the Slayer in waves.

Faith smirked when she heard this; she was standing at the foot of the bed, a psychotic grin on her face; knife, _that_ knife, clutched tightly in her hand. She didn't want to just stake the vampire, that would be too easy, no, he deserved to suffer for what he had done…_really_ suffer. It was kind of poetic that she would use the very same knife that Buffy had tried to gut her with.

"Guess again, Twinkie." She responded, the tone of her voice sending a chill down Spike's spine.

Spike sat up quickly, suddenly wide awake when he realized that there was a very pissed off, very psychotic Slayer standing not 2 meters away from him.

"Faith!" he couldn't prevent the slight waver in his voice, betraying his fear, as he whispered her name.

Faith smirked, enjoying the effect she was having on the vampire. He was visibly squirming under her intense gaze while she just stood dead still at the foot of the bed.

"Can I help you with something, luv." Spike tried to hide his fear, his cocky attitude masking the gut wrenching fear he felt.

Faith scowled, "As a matter of fact, there is a little something." She tilted her hand so that the knife was in full view of the vampire. The glinting steel caught Spike's eye and he dropped his gaze, gulping back the terror that was fast taking over him.

**Ext: Streets of Sunnydale**

Buffy headed for the vineyard, renewed purpose in her stride; her anger at her friends, at the potentials, but especially Faith, fuelling her desire to find Caleb and take whatever it was he had of hers. Buffy kept going over the events of the night before in her mind. As much as she knew it was irrational she couldn't help but be angrier at Faith than any of the others. Deep down, Buffy knew that Faith had nothing to do with planning or instigating the "rebellion" against her. No, Buffy was angry and disappointed in the dark Slayer. Out of everyone she had expected her at least to back her up, to understand her motives, to see that Buffy only had the best interests of everyone at heart.

_Is that really why you're mad at her; disappointed in the one person you thought would have your back. Or are you angry at her because you love her and you thought she loved you enough to back you up, regardless of what decisions you made._ Buffy slowed her furious pace and thought about her feelings for the dark Slayer. She couldn't lie to herself, as much as she was trying to avoid the issue, there was definitely something there. Buffy could only compare it to the feelings she once had for Angel; but there was something stronger, more intense about her feelings for the dark Slayer. Buffy had to admit to herself that she was angrier at Faith, because she loved her, and had expected more from her.

**Int: Random House Bedroom**

Faith straddled Spike, she had beaten him to within an inch of his life and he was now lying in a helpless heap on the floor. She held the knife to his throat, preparing to behead the vampire, preparing to kill him. She sat on his hips and glared with hate in to his bloody, beaten face…blood from her own injuries dripped onto his face and mingled with his. Faith watched with morbid fascination as vampire and Slayer blood mingled. She applied more pressure to Spike's throat, the blade breaking his skin and spilling more of his blood. He was resigned to his fate, had accepted that he was going to die at the hands of this Slayer.

"Promise me you'll look after her." It was spoken very softly, Spike trying to hide his pain. He stared into Faith's eyes, begging her to look after Buffy with all his soul. And that was when Faith saw it, his soul. She eased off with the knife and stared into the vampire's eyes and saw the hurt and pain and regret for what he had done, but most importantly, she saw that he did in deed love Buffy and would do anything for her.

Faith shook her head, she hated Spike with a passion, but she couldn't kill him, she realized this now. She couldn't kill someone who cared that much for Buffy. She couldn't kill him because he had a soul now. It dawned on Faith then that she was almost the same as the vampire; she had only the best of intentions for the blonde Slayer, in spite of their history. She nodded and slowly stood up, ignoring the protests her injured body made against the movement.

Spike sighed with relief and continued to lie on the floor, avoiding the intense gaze of the dark Slayer, "You have my word, I will never hurt Buffy again." The promise was a soft whisper but Faith heard it and nodded at the vampire, then she stepped over his prone form and was gone.

**Ext: Streets of Sunnydale**

Faith headed back to Buffy's house very slowly; there were still a few hours before 7:00; before she had to lead a bunch of innocent potentials into battle. _You always made it look so easy to lead._ Faith sighed as she thought about Buffy; _I'm terrified, B, I can't lead these girls into battle, I'm not strong like you…_

"Oh, but you are strong, so much stronger than you give yourself credit for."

Faith stopped in her tracks and turned around to face the direction the voice had come from, a voice she recognized too well.

"What do you want?" she snarled as she saw the Mayor standing before her.

He shook his head disapprovingly as he took a step towards the Slayer, "Manners, my dear, you might be a little more welcome. It's the end of humanity, Faith, not the end of courtesy."

Faith scowled at him, "You're wasting your time. I know who you are, what you are."

The Mayor smirked at Faith, an amused expression on his face, "Nobody's explained to you how this works, have they? You see... I am part of the First, as you kids call it, but I'm also me, Richard Wilkins III, late mayor and founder of Sunnydale. Here. I'll prove it to you. Ask me a question only I know the answer to. Something like... Where did I hide the moon pies in my office? Or... who was my favorite character in little women? Meg. I know. I know. Most people guess Beth, but Meg, she's such a proper young lady. Remember when Jo burned her hair?"

Faith stared at the Mayor, "I know what you're doing, and it's not going to work. But feel free to keep talking, 'cause, hell, I could listen to you yap all night." She continued walking down the street towards Buffy's home.

The Mayor fell in beside her, matching her fast, angry pace, "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Language! You're a leader now. You keep throwing the "h-e-double hockey sticks" around, pretty soon, the girls are going to pick up on it. Then what?"

Faith stopped dead and turned to glare at the First, "You let me worry about the girls."

The Mayor threw his hands in the air defensively, "Of course, of course. You're doing a great job with them, by the way. Much better than Buffy ever did. You were smart to kick her out."

Faith scowled at the Mayor, "That's not what we…" she paused, realizing that he was just baiting her, "Buffy got them this far."

"Why are you protecting her?" the Mayor stepped in front of Faith, stopping her in her tracks, "You think she cares about you?" satisfaction filled him as he saw he was getting to the dark Slayer, "She nearly killed you, Faith." He spat at her, enjoying the dark look that flashed across the Slayer's face.

Faith stood before him, clenching her fists, her jaw was set, "It's _different_ now." She said through clenched teeth, "We're different now."

The Mayor just smirked at her, "No matter what you do, Buffy will always see you as a killer, not as a person. And now you have what she so desperately wants: the respect of these girls. All she needs is an excuse, and she'll finish what she started when she stuck that knife in your belly. You stay on guard, Faith. Buffy's dangerous. If you're not careful, she'll destroy you."

Faith was unable to control her fury anymore, she lashed out at the Mayor, aiming a barrage of fruitless punches and kicks his way. They just passed straight through him as he laughed at her futile attempt to destroy him.

"You're wrong!" Faith screamed at him, "She cares for me…" her protests were nearly drowned out by his laughter, fueling her anger. She attacked him with renewed vigor, throwing everything she had at the apparition before her. Finally, losing her balance, she fell to her hands and knees, exhaustion and frustration filling her.

The Mayor crouched before the prone Slayer, enjoying his game of torment he was playing, "Deep down, you always wanted Buffy to accept you, to love you even. Why do you think that is?" Faith just glared at him, hatred in her eyes.

"You keep looking for love an acceptance from these people, especially from Buffy…" he stood up and started pacing in front of Faith, "you're never going to find it." He turned back to the prone Slayer, his hands behind his back, "The truth is, nobody will ever love you, not the way I love you."

"Get away from me." Faith snarled.

The Mayor just laughed at her, "Such hatred, Faith." He said, straightening up as she leant back on her heels, not taking her eyes off him, "It will come in handy, when the time is right."

The Mayor just smiled at her, "Just remember, Buffy will never love you, Faith. You're a murderer; she'll forever see you as a _killer_!" and with that, he was gone.

Faith remained sitting on her heels, staring ahead, trying to control the fury and rage that was coursing through her. It took her a moment to realize that she was sitting in front of Buffy's house. She slowly got to her feet and made her way to the front door, as she went to grab the door handle Robin Wood appeared out of the shadows.

"Faith."

"God." Faith whipped round to face the former principal, "Don't sneak up on me like that, I could have taken your head off, or worse…" she scowled at the teacher.

"There's something worse than having your head taken off…" he replied with amusement in his voice.

Faith continued to scowl at him, "You have no idea…" she said resignedly.

"Are you alright, Faith?"

"Why, what's it to you?" Faith attacked, staring the principal down.

"Look, you just seem a bit spooked, that's all, what happened?"

"What did you see?" Faith asked softly, her hand still poised over the door handle.

Wood folded his arms across his chest and sighed, "You were yelling at him to get away from you, but there was no one there, Faith." He said softly, knowingly.

"It was the First." Faith turned to face the principal, fear evident in her eyes.

"I figured as much." Wood stood before the Slayer, "You're really in the game now, Faith. The first doesn't show itself unless it thinks you matter."

Faith laughed nervously, "Lucky me, I'm a player." She grabbed her cigarettes out of her pocket and tried to light one, "Man, look at that…" she held out her hand, "my hand's shaking." She shook her head, "Demons, vampires, woman in the penitentiary system – none of that freaks me out…"

**Int: Summer's House**

Willow stood by the window, watching and listening to the exchange between Faith and Robin. She knew the principal had a thing for Faith, and she was worried that the Slayer, in her present state of mind, may do something she regretted.

Willow was about to head out to interrupt the two, but Faith's words stopped her.

"…we've given her pretty good reason to be pissed off. You know the messed up thing? The First is telling me to worry about her, and I just wish she was here. In a few minutes I'm gonna lead these girls into some serious crap, and she's the only one…"

Willow smiled sadly, she hated that they had kicked Buffy out of the house; it was probably one of the hardest things she had ever had to do. It had to be done, though, Buffy had started to become reckless, her overwhelming desire to destroy the First had taken control, blinded her to the needs of all the others in the house. Willow watched Faith through the window, she looked so sad, so dejected when she spoke of the blonde Slayer. _I guess one good thing came from kicking Buffy out. _Willow thought to herself._ It has helped Faith at least come to terms with her feelings for her._

"She's not the only one. You're a slayer too, Faith, and I think you're a good leader."

Willow was snapped out of her thoughts and quickly went outside; it was time to break up the dialogue between the two, "Faith, it's almost time." She ignored the scowl that Robin gave her and gestured for the Slayer to come inside and prepare for the upcoming mission.

"Right, time to go." Faith quickly headed inside, flashing the witch a small smile, relieved that she had interrupted the conversation with Robin.

**Int: Wine Cellar at Vineyards**

"Hey! I heard you've got something of mine." Buffy stood at the top of the stairs, hands on hips, cockily staring down at Caleb.

Caleb looked up and saw Buffy standing there, "Well, if it ain't the prodigal slayer?"

Buffy looked around, "Where's it at? You know I'm gonna find it sooner or later."

"No, you're not. I lay one hand on you, and you're just a dead little girl."

Buffy shrugged, "Lay a hand on me...if you can." She smirked at the preacher.

**Int: Tunnel**

Faith lead the potentials through the tunnel, her flashlight finally illuminating a stockpile of weapons.

"Everybody stop, I think we just found it." Faith paused in front of all the weapons.

"Look at all this." Kennedy said in dismay.

Vi grabbed a sword from the pile and looked around, "I don't get it. Why'd they abandon all this stuff?"

Faith turned as she heard a noise behind them, she saw a Bringer jump down from the rafters, "Maybe 'cause they didn't." she said ominously, as she raised her sword and charged the nearest Bringer.

**Int: Wine Cellar – Vineyards**

"You whore!"

Buffy stopped running and turned to face Caleb, "You know, you really should watch your language. If someone didn't know you, they might think you were a woman-hating jerk."

**Int: Tunnel**

"Is that it? I mean, not that it wasn't fun, but…" Vi was cut off by Kennedy who was inspecting a nearby door.

"Yo, Faith, check this out!"

Faith headed over to where Kennedy was aiming her flashlight and cautiously inspected the doorway. She shone a flashlight into it which revealed a set of stairs leading down into the basement. She threw at quick glance at Kennedy and the rest of the potentials before gesturing to them to follow her down the dark stairwell.

Once they reached their destination they all took a moment to survey their surroundings. Faith headed over to a plank laid across a waterway, she was interested in the padlocked box that was on the other side, "Wait here." She called over her shoulder, not taking her eyes off the box as she headed towards it.

**Int: Wine Cellar – Vineyard**

Buffy saw a trapdoor under some fallen wine barrels, she ducked Caleb's wild punch and dived for the door, disappearing into the basement of the wine cellar.

Buffy stood up, brushing herself off as she looked at the now closed trap door. But her attention was drawn to a dark rock; or, more accurately, to the weapon that was embedded inside the dark rock.

Grinning, Buffy jogged down the stairs and went to inspect the weapon more closely. She slowly reached out to touch the handle.

"So…you found it." Buffy turned to face Caleb, "Not impressed, cause the question now, girly girl, is can you pry it from solid rock before I come over there…"

Buffy grabbed the handle and pulled the weapon out of the stone with ease. She looked over at Caleb, a smirk on her face. She could feel the power of the scythe surging through her, it was so raw, so powerful. She felt invincible; finally they had a fighting chance against the first.

"Darn." Caleb exhaled a worried breath.

**Int: Tunnel**

Faith crouched before the box and inspected the old fashioned padlock. Not known for her patience, she stood up and kicked the lock, busting the box open. She bent down once again to open the box. Her eyes widened when she saw a timer reading 00:08 seconds that was wired to bricks of C4. She jumped back, "Everybody get down!!"

The box exploded, the fireball and concussion from the blast sending potentials flying. Faith had tried to get as far away from the bomb as she could, but it was too late. The blast threw her in to the water. _I'm sorry I failed you, B._ Her last thoughts, before unconsciousness overcame her.

**Int: Wine Cellar – Vineyard**

"You don't even know what you got there." Caleb was backing away nervously from the blonde Slayer.

"I know you're backing away." Buffy said, still approaching him.

"You think wielding some 2-sided doo-dad's gonna make a difference?" Caleb snarled at her.

"Let her go, Caleb." The First appeared behind the priest. Caleb hesitated, "I said let her go."

"If I let her go, she slices me open with that thing." He gestured to the Scythe.

Buffy stared at the preacher as if he'd gone insane, she knew he was talking to the First but it was still disconcerting to see him talking to nothing. She suddenly frowned, confused as she felt panic, fear, pain, and then nothing. Her connection to Faith had been strengthened when she had grabbed the scythe, so this sudden severe weakening of their bond scared her. She could barely feel the dark Slayer at all.

The First smirked at Buffy, "No she doesn't, she hasn't got time. She has friends." Buffy snapped her head in the direction of the First, she could hear her, it, see it, but what freaked Buffy out the most was that the First had taken her form. Buffy gulped back her fears, her own mortality staring her blatantly in the face, a reminder that she was not invincible. She hesitated, gripping the scythe firmly in her hands, a worried expression on her face as she looked at the First.

The First continued the dialogue with Caleb, "And her friends are in trouble." she smirked psychotically at the blonde Slayer, "Faith go boom…"she said laughing maniacally.

Buffy glared at the First and Caleb, fear for the dark Slayer's life her only coherent thought. She rushed past them and bolted up the stairwell, her only goal; to reach Faith before it was too late.


	10. Realizations

**A/N: Sheepish grin…sorry for another huge delay in updating. Thanks for all the awesome reviews and for sticking with me and this story . You may want to read the last few pages of chapter 2 to remind yourself of the conversation between F and B. **

**A/N 2: My wonderful beta, CBscifiJUNKY, had some VERY awesome ideas for this chapter, so thanks, babe ;-) Hope I did it justice…**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Realizations**

**Int:Tunnel**

Buffy heard the fight going on below her so, using the scythe, she made a hole in the floor and then jumped through it right in to the middle of the battle. It took her only a moment to recover before she attacked the Turok-Hans with a vengeance. She embraced the power flowing through her, she became one with the scythe as she beheaded and staked Turok-Hans until none were left. Finally taking a moment to catch her breath and recover, she surveyed the scene before her, heart leaping to her throat when she saw Faith slung between 2 potentials. _Is she alive?_ Buffy wanted to run to the dark Slayer, to see if she was breathing, but she knew that her first priority was to get them all out of the sewers safely, then she could tend to Faith. If she concentrated hard enough she could feel their Slayer bond, it was weak, but it was there and that was all that mattered.

Buffy spared Faith once last glance before jumping to action, "Get the wounded. We're leaving." She commanded, starting towards the exit.

"Are there more?" Kennedy ran up beside the blonde, fear evident in her voice.

Buffy sighed as she kept walking, "There's always more..." she threw a glance at the potentials trailing behind her, "Let's move." She shouted.

**Int: Living Room at Buffy's House**

There was chaos in the living room of the Summer's house, the uninjured potentials and Scoobies tended to the wounds of the girls hurt in the explosion and the fight against the Turok-hans. Buffy tried to assist where she could, but she was distracted, her thoughts with the dark Slayer, and the fact that their Slayer bond was so weak.

"Buffy…BUFFY!" the blonde Slayer snapped out of her daze, she turned to face her best friend.

Willow took over attending to the potential Buffy was kneeling beside, "Faith is here, you should go…you know, go see how she's doing." The witch resumed caring for the injured potential. She noticed Buffy hesitate as she saw Giles and Xander carry the unconscious Faith through the door, "Go…she needs you."

Buffy quickly got up and made her way over to them, "Put her in my room."

Giles nodded and he and Xander started up the stairs towards the bedroom.

"Is she OK? Is she gonna be OK?" Amanda was panicking as she looked at Faith's broken body being carried up the stairs.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Kennedy responded, she looked hopefully at Buffy, "right?"

Buffy looked at the two scared potentials in front of her, "I'll be up in a second." She called to Giles.

Kennedy continued to look for reassurance from the blonde Slayer, "You guys heal fast, right? You slayers?"

Buffy sighed, "Yeah."

"So...she'll be OK?" Kennedy continued to push.

"I don't know." Buffy had to stifle the sob at the back of her throat, she had to remain strong for the potentials who were all staring at her, begging her with their eyes to tell them it would all be ok, to reassure them that they weren't about to lose a Slayer.

"What's with the axe thing?" Caridad broke the tense silence.

Buffy looked at the scythe she was still holding in her hands, "I took it from Caleb. It might be important."

"Let's hope." Vi said, looking at the weapon.

"I think we got punished." Amanda said, almost breaking into sobs.

"What?" Buffy frowned, confused.

"We, uh...we followed her. And it was…" Kennedy broke off, not wanting to go on.

"It didn't work out." Vi jumped in.

Buffy shook her head, "You guys, it was a trap. It's not her fault. That could've just as easily happened to me." As the words left Buffy's mouth realization hit her like a ton of bricks. She had always thought of Faith as the lesser Slayer, not as good as she was. Buffy never thought of Faith as a Chosen One, she had always thought of her as a mistake. Buffy had never thought of Faith as capable of taking lead, and now she realized how arrogant and wrong she had been. She had to go see the dark Slayer, she had to make it right, somehow, anyhow, if there was a way she would find it. She started for the stairs.

"So are you... are you, like, back?" Caridad asked Buffy's retreating form.

Buffy stopped in her tracks, "I don't know. I guess I'm not leaving."

"So, we got a plan now, or anything?" Kennedy called after the blonde Slayer.

"Yeah, there's a plan. Get ready, time's up." Buffy shouted back as she reached the top of the stairs.

**Int: Buffy's Room**

Buffy walked in to her room, it took everything she had to not jump on to her bed, grab Faith and cradle her in her arms. The dark Slayer looked so peaceful, if it wasn't for the bruising on her face and blood stained clothes, she could almost just be sleeping peacefully. Buffy watched the slow rise and fall of Faith's chest; she appeared to be struggling to breath.

As if on cue, Xander turned to Giles, "Is she breathing Ok?"

Giles nodded, "She has some broken ribs so her breathing is a little laboured, but it doesn't appear to be life threatening." He sighed and took off his glasses, cleaning them with the handkerchief he pulled out of his pocket, "It's the fact that she's still unconscious that concerns me."

"Yeah, this whole coma thing, kinda getting old." Xander tried to lighten the mood in the room.

Giles stood up, replacing his glasses, "There's nothing more we can do for her, her Slayer healing has to do the rest." He gestured for Xander and Buffy to leave the room with him.

Buffy stood at the foot of the bed, never taking her eyes off the dark Slayer, "I'll be down in a moment, I ah, just give me a few minutes."

Giles nodded knowingly and pulled the door shut behind him, giving the Slayers some privacy.

Buffy moved to the side of the bed, sitting down gently, not wanting to jar the bed and cause the unconscious Slayer any unnecessary pain.

"Xander's right, you know," She smiled sadly, gently leaning forward and brushing a stray lock of hair from Faith's face, "this whole coma deal; definitely getting old."

Buffy sat in silence for a while, the rise and fall of Faith's chest a comforting reminder that the dark Slayer was still fighting, that her slayer healing was working.

"Sooo…this is all actually quiet familiar," Buffy said conversationally, "I mean, me, sitting by your bed, willing you to wake up, well, actually, it's my bed, but that's beside the point…god, could I babble anymore?" Buffy shook her head at herself, she leaned in closer to Faith, "You know, last time we were in this situation," Buffy paused, thinking back to how Faith had come back to Sunnydale to diffuse the situation with Willow. She looked at Faith again, taking the dark Slayer's hand gently in her own, "know what, I think this is a discussion that should wait until you wake up." Buffy stood up and made to leave. She stopped, turned to the injured Slayer and leant over and gently kissed her on the forehead, "It's not a 'game' to me, Faith." She said softly, and then left the room.

**Int: Willow's Room at Buffy's House**

Buffy stood and absently watched Willow examine the scythe. Both she and Giles could hardly contain their excitement.

"And you say you sense something when you hold it?"

Buffy sighed, unable to share in the enthusiasm over the weapon, "Not much, but it's strong, and I knew it belonged to me. I just knew."

Giles took over examining the weapon, "In addition to being ancient, its clearly mystical."

"Yeah, I figured that one out when I King Arthured it out of the stone." Buffy said unenthusiastically, before getting lost in her own thoughts again.

Willow walked up to her friend, she could sense she was distressed, and she knew it was because of a certain dark haired Slayer lying in the next room.

"How is she?"

Buffy looked up to find Willow standing before her, "Wha…who?"

"Faith, how is she?" Willow repeated patiently.

"She's still unconscious." Buffy couldn't suppress the waver in her voice.

Willow put a comforting arm around her best friend's shoulders, "She'll be OK, this is Faith we're talking about, coma-girl…this is all old to her, being unconscious, she'll be up and about in no time." Buffy chuckled a little as she listened to Willow babble away, "You know, I think Faith likes being unconscious, gets her out of a hell of a lot of work and clean up most of the time…"

"Buffy, she's awake." Dawn burst in to the room, interrupting Willow's babblethon.

Buffy turned to face Dawn who was standing in the doorway, "I just checked in on her and she started to wake up" she said, grinning excitedly.

A huge grin spread across the blonde Slayer's face, relief filling her as she bolted past her sister and headed for her bedroom.

"Well, I think that news cheered her up." Giles said, smiling after the retreating form of his Slayer.

Willow just grinned as she watched her friend disappear out of the room.

**Int: Buffy's Bedroom**

Buffy stopped outside the door to her bedroom, her hand was poised ready to knock. She paused, suddenly realizing how nervous she was. She hadn't exactly been overly friendly to Faith since she'd arrived so she was worried how the dark Slayer might react to the change in attitude.

"_Fuck…_"

Buffy heard the silent curse and some muttering as well as a loud thud, she burst into the room without knocking, worried that Faith may have injured herself again. She found the dark Slayer still lying on the bed, rubbing the back of her head with a pained expression on her face.

"You ok?" Buffy asked, immediately concerned.

Faith raised an eyebrow, immediately regretting it as a flash of pain went through her skull; she winced and closed her eyes, waiting for the pain to pass, "Yeah, 5 by 5." She said through gritted teeth, hating showing any weakness in front of the blonde.

Buffy folded her arms in front of her and looked sternly at the dark Slayer, "I know you were trying to get out of bed, Faith." she had to smile at the sheepish look Faith gave her. _Damn, she's so cute, _Buffy thought to herself. She sighed and then smiled gently, "Take it easy, ok, you were blown up only this morning, give the Slayer healing a chance."

Buffy caught Faith staring at her incredulously, but before the dark Slayer could say a word she handed her the Scythe, "I found this."

Faith was still staring at Buffy like she'd suddenly grown horns, but she gingerly reached out and took the weapon in her strong hand.

Buffy smiled as she watched Faith 'bond', for want of a better word, with the scythe, "You feel it too, don't you?"

Faith shut her eyes, the power from the weapon coursing through her, "Damn. And damn, that's something." She opened her eyes and looked up at Buffy for an explanation.

"I know."

"It's old. It's strong, and it feels like... like it's mine." She placed the scythe on the bed, nearer to where Buffy was sitting, "I guess that means it's yours."

Buffy picked the scythe up and examined it, "It belongs to the slayer."

"Slayer in charge, which, I'm guessing, is you." Faith said, dejected.

Buffy sat on the edge of the bed again, "I honestly don't know." She looked at Faith, "Does it matter?"

Faith sighed, "It never mattered to me. Somebody has to lead. Let's vote for Chao-Ahn. It's harder to lead people into a deathtrap if you don't speak English."

"It wasn't your fault." Buffy stared intently at the dark Slayer, trying to convince her of this.

Faith couldn't hold the intense gaze, she looked away, feeling overwhelmed with emotions, the guilt from the past eating away at her, "I'm really not looking for forgiveness." She said softly.

Buffy looked almost surprised at this, she knew Faith wasn't referring to the recent incident with the potentials, "You're not?"

The walls came up again and Faith turned to the blonde again, this time a touch of anger in her tone, "What do you want me to say? I blew it."

"You didn't blow it, Faith." Buffy said seriously.

"Tell that to…"

"People die!" Buffy interrupted a little harshly, "You lead them into battle, they're gonna die. It doesn't matter how ready you are or how smart you are. War is about death. Needless, stupid death."

Faith stared hard at Buffy, it occurred to her that this was probably one of the longest conversations they had had in recent times, "My whole life I've been a loner." Faith said seriously, more for her own benefit. This was one of the reasons why she was still in denial about her feelings for the blonde. She had avoided relationships her whole life, her 'get some, get gone' attitude working just fine for her. It was safe; you didn't risk getting your heart broken. But then she looked at Buffy, and she knew she wanted to take the risk.

"Did I miss something?" Buffy asked, confused as to where this conversation was leading.

Faith sighed, "OK. The point. Me, by myself all the time. I'm looking at you, everything you have, and, I don't know, I'm jealous. Then there I am. Everybody's looking to me, trusting me to lead them, and I've never felt so alone in my entire life." She looked sadly at the blonde.

Buffy looked down, swallowing hard, "Yeah."

"And that's you every day, isn't it?" Faith said softly, her heart breaking for the blonde.

"I love my friends. I'm very grateful for them. But that's the price. Being a slayer."

Faith shook her head, "There's only supposed to be one. Maybe that's why you and I can never get along. We're not supposed to exist together."

"Also, you went evil and were killing people."

"Good point. Also a factor." Faith nodded, hiding how much the past was destroying her inside, the guilt eating away at her.

"But you're right. I mean, I... I guess everyone's alone. But being a slayer? There's a burden we can't share."

"And no one else can feel it." Faith paused and smiled at Buffy, "Thank God we're hot chicks with superpowers."

"Takes the edge off."

"Comforting."

Buffy smiled at Faith, "I think this has to count as one of the longest conversations we've ever had without a punch being thrown." She said chuckling.

Faith snickered, "Yeah."

Buffy stared deep in to the brunette's dark eyes, she could see the pain and sadness there. As much as Faith put on a brave front and hid behind the walls she put up, her eyes betrayed her true feelings. Buffy was suddenly very aware of Faith's lips, very aware of the overwhelming desire she had to kiss them, to taste Faith. She returned her gaze to the dark Slayer's eyes, seeing the nervousness, but also the desire burning in them. Time seemed to stand still as Buffy slowly leaned forward, smiling as she saw Faith close her eyes in anticipation.

"Buffy…BUFFY, you need to come, NOW!"

The call came from downstairs, it was Andrew. Buffy stopped in her tracks, the moment effectively killed by the annoying, whiny cry of their 'prisoner'.

"I better go see what's happening." Buffy sighed resignedly as she reluctantly stood up, gave Faith an apologetic and embarrassed smile and then bolted out of the door.

Faith collapsed back on the bed, furious at the interruption, "I am going to kill him." She said through clenched teeth, groaning in frustration.

**Int: Kitchen, Buffy's House**

Buffy had stormed down the stairs and into the kitchen ready to give Andrew a piece of her mind when she stopped dead in her tracks.

"Honey, you're home."

Buffy just stared in shock at Spike. He had been beaten to within an inch of his life and was sitting slumped over the kitchen table, obviously in a lot of pain.

"Who did this to you?" Buffy demanded through clenched teeth, fearing she already knew the answer.

Spike looked at the Slayer through swollen eyes, "It's not important."

"Tell me!" Buffy shouted, so desperately wanting an answer that was different to what she knew in her heart to be the truth.

Xander wandered in to the kitchen, followed closely by Anya. He was curious as to all the commotion and shouting, but nothing could have prepared him for the sight of Spike slumped over the kitchen table. He couldn't suppress the grin that spread across his face as he took in Spike's appearance, "So Spike, looks like someone finally gave you a good beating."

"Not now, Xander." Buffy scowled at her friend and then turned back to face Spike, "Was it Faith?" she asked through clenched teeth, praying it wasn't so.

"Now that would be poetic justice, wouldn't it, just wish it could have been me." Xander's gleeful expression quickly disappeared when he saw Buffy glaring at him, "Right, so, I'll just stand over here and be silent." He shuffled over to where Anya was standing and they exchanged a knowing look.

"So?" Buffy turned her attention back to Spike. He looked sadly at Buffy; he couldn't lie to her so he just dropped his gaze.

"I'll take that as a yes." Buffy said, rage filling her as she stormed off to confront the dark Slayer.

It took Anya a moment to react. Buffy brushing past where she and Xander were standing spurred her in to action. She turned and hit Xander on the shoulder, repeating the action harder when she didn't get a response out of him.

"Ow, hey, quit it." Xander turned to Anya, rubbing his shoulder.

"Do something." Anya said frantically, eyes wide as she tilted her head in the direction of Buffy storming up the stairs.

"What?" Xander asked, frowning in confusion. He followed Anya's gaze as she gestured first at Buffy and then towards Buffy's bedroom. It didn't take long for realization to hit him, "Oh…" he bolted out the kitchen after the blonde Slayer.

"Buffy!" he stood at the bottom of the stairs calling after Buffy's retreating form.

"Not now, Xander." She didn't even turn to face him.

"Please, Buffy, hear me out." Xander advanced up the stairs.

Buffy stopped, exasperated and spun around to face him, "What?" she snapped.

"I ah, we ah…"

"Spit it out, Xander, I don't have all day."

"It's just that, well, see, Faith may have over heard myself and Anya talking earlier."

"So." Buffy folded her arms, her patience wearing thin.

"We were, we were talking about the incident…" he paused and looked apologetically at his friend, "…with Spike."

Buffy frowned, confused as she tried to figure out what Xander was talking about.

Xander advanced even closer to Buffy, "Look, she really cares for you, Buffy…"

"Yeah?" Buffy laughed sarcastically, "Well, she sure has a funny way of showing it."

"You should have seen how furious she was when she heard about how Spike nearly raped you." Both Buffy and Xander looked down the stairs at Anya.

"What?" Buffy looked between Xander and Anya.

"It's what I was trying to say, Buff." Xander said, "Faith overheard us talking and, well, I guess she went to get revenge on Spike."

"It's not her fault, she really cares for you." Anya said, smiling sadly at Buffy.

Buffy stared blankly at Anya.

"I guess love can make you do crazy things." Xander said, smiling at the blonde Slayer.

Buffy turned to face him, "How did you…I mean, when…"

"Buffy, it's pretty obvious how you two crazy Slayer's feel about each other, we're all just waiting for you to admit it to each other." He continued to grin at her.

"Yeah, would you two just get on with it already; all the sexual tension is really nauseating." Anya added.

Buffy was stunned, she stared at Xander, open mouthed, "I…" she looked between the two, "I have to go." She turned and headed for her bedroom.

"Buffy…" she turned to face Xander, "…go easy on her." He started to head back down the stairs.

Buffy nodded, "Don't worry." She was about to turn around again when she paused, "Oh, and Xander. He paused and turned to face the Slayer, "Thanks…for everything." She smiled warmly at him and then turned to go see the dark Slayer.

**Int: Buffy's Bedroom**

Faith had gotten out of bed when she heard the commotion downstairs. She knew Buffy was going to be furious with her for what she had done, so she wanted to face the blonde standing up. She was still feeling a little dizzy from her concussion so was holding on to Buffy's dresser for support when the blonde came bursting in to the room. Faith expected to see hate and fury in Buffy's eyes, instead she saw caring, respect, and, dare she even hope, love in the blonde's eyes.

"B, I can…"

"Shhh…" Buffy closed the distance between herself and the dark Slayer and placed a finger on Faith's lips.

Faith stared deep in to Buffy's eyes; she could feel her heart pounding in her chest, the warm tingling feeling in her gut she got each time she was close to Buffy.

"We need to talk." Buffy took Faith's hand in her own and led her towards the bed.


End file.
